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sigfig's review against another edition
4.0
interesting personal story but also goes into the science behind recovery. triggered some interesting thoughts that I'm still trying to digest. gotta do better at wearing down the path and you can't do it alone.
emjay2021's review against another edition
After finishing the two Woefield Farm books, I thought I'd read Susan Juby's memoir--I knew some parts of the books were autobiographical, and it was interesting to see which parts are reflected in Nice Recovery. I quite enjoyed her account of growing up in Smithers, BC, since I currently live in Northern BC and I have some good friends who grew up in Smithers!
I liked the first part of the book--Juby's own story of her growing up and developing an alcohol problem, and her eventual recovery. Her voice is as witty and dryly funny as it is in her fiction, and I read this part of the book (Parts I and II) very quickly and with great enjoyment. She doesn't downplay her downward trajectory of self-destructive behaviour, but she is nicely self-deprecating without being self-hating. I never got the feeling she had contempt for her younger self, just that she was looking back, shaking her head, and smiling a little bit.
However...I was not so keen on Part III, which is basically the stories of other people's recovery from addiction. Don't get me wrong--these are good stories in their own right--but I found the transition from Susan Juby's memoir to short accounts of other people's recovery a bit jarring. I just did not find them as compelling as Juby's story.
Anyway, it's a short, concise addiction memoir that is humorous without making light of a sad and serious subject. I finished the book feeling glad that the author was able to pull out of her spiral and revive the creative voice that her alcoholism had stifled for so many years.
I liked the first part of the book--Juby's own story of her growing up and developing an alcohol problem, and her eventual recovery. Her voice is as witty and dryly funny as it is in her fiction, and I read this part of the book (Parts I and II) very quickly and with great enjoyment. She doesn't downplay her downward trajectory of self-destructive behaviour, but she is nicely self-deprecating without being self-hating. I never got the feeling she had contempt for her younger self, just that she was looking back, shaking her head, and smiling a little bit.
However...I was not so keen on Part III, which is basically the stories of other people's recovery from addiction. Don't get me wrong--these are good stories in their own right--but I found the transition from Susan Juby's memoir to short accounts of other people's recovery a bit jarring. I just did not find them as compelling as Juby's story.
Anyway, it's a short, concise addiction memoir that is humorous without making light of a sad and serious subject. I finished the book feeling glad that the author was able to pull out of her spiral and revive the creative voice that her alcoholism had stifled for so many years.
annebennett1957's review against another edition
4.0
Actually I think this book has some very valuable information about the process of addiction recovery in it. I will recommend this book to teen readers.
23missb's review against another edition
4.0
Having read Susan Juby's Alice books, I already had a sense of her writing style and I knew that she was funny. An addiction/recovery memoir doesn't necessarily allow for humour though, or the sort that has you snorting and chuckling aloud. This one does.
Juby breaks down the book into 3 parts. It's a quick, captivating read, and while you may have heard this story before, it really is the humour that sets this one apart.
As much as I enjoy the personal story the most, I do also enjoy the inclusion of facts or opinions from professionals and specialists in the field. The following passage from near the end of the book, really stuck with me:
"I asked Neal Berger, an addictions specialist, what changes he'd seen in the demographic of people coming into treatment centres. He told me that at Hazeldean, perhaps the most famous recovery centre in the world, the typical patient in the mid-1980s was male, was fifty-three years old, and had started drinking when he was eighteen. this typical patient was seventy to eighty percent along in the disease process. It had taken him thirty years to reach bottom, or the point at which he reached out for help.
In the 1990s, the typical patient was still male, average age thirty-six. This patient had started drinking and/or using substances at fifteen. He was taking a mixture of drugs and alcohol and was every bit as sick as the fifty-three-year-old man had been in the 1980s. In addition, this patient was often diagnosed with "co-morbidity" or mental illness, either caused by or combined with addiction problem.
By the mid-2000s, the average patient coming into treatment was male or female, was under twenty-five, had started using at twelve or thirteen, was addicted to a panoply of substances, and also had symptoms of mental illness. This was a different patient from the one seen in the mid-eighties: this was a much, much sicker patient.
The trend is clear and ominous. Alcoholics and addicts today are much younger and have a gone down harder and farther. Many, if not most, need professional help to have a fighting chance of survival."
Juby breaks down the book into 3 parts. It's a quick, captivating read, and while you may have heard this story before, it really is the humour that sets this one apart.
As much as I enjoy the personal story the most, I do also enjoy the inclusion of facts or opinions from professionals and specialists in the field. The following passage from near the end of the book, really stuck with me:
"I asked Neal Berger, an addictions specialist, what changes he'd seen in the demographic of people coming into treatment centres. He told me that at Hazeldean, perhaps the most famous recovery centre in the world, the typical patient in the mid-1980s was male, was fifty-three years old, and had started drinking when he was eighteen. this typical patient was seventy to eighty percent along in the disease process. It had taken him thirty years to reach bottom, or the point at which he reached out for help.
In the 1990s, the typical patient was still male, average age thirty-six. This patient had started drinking and/or using substances at fifteen. He was taking a mixture of drugs and alcohol and was every bit as sick as the fifty-three-year-old man had been in the 1980s. In addition, this patient was often diagnosed with "co-morbidity" or mental illness, either caused by or combined with addiction problem.
By the mid-2000s, the average patient coming into treatment was male or female, was under twenty-five, had started using at twelve or thirteen, was addicted to a panoply of substances, and also had symptoms of mental illness. This was a different patient from the one seen in the mid-eighties: this was a much, much sicker patient.
The trend is clear and ominous. Alcoholics and addicts today are much younger and have a gone down harder and farther. Many, if not most, need professional help to have a fighting chance of survival."
scotchneat's review
3.0
Susan Juby became a drunk, went through AA, got straightened out and gained a successful career while still in her twenties.
Because she's a writer, the book is more entertaining than some recovery books someone might read. Without being cynical, she seems to have never had a really bad rock bottom and was lucky enough to have avoided many of the physical harms that come to young addicts.
Because she's a writer, the book is more entertaining than some recovery books someone might read. Without being cynical, she seems to have never had a really bad rock bottom and was lucky enough to have avoided many of the physical harms that come to young addicts.
burnsbooks's review
4.0
I started reading this because I have a friend who I worry might be an alcoholic and I was hoping to get some insight. This book is witty and funny and generally stays true to the awkwardness of intoxication and teendome. Well done Juby.
banana29's review
4.0
Susan Juby's own story of recovery is fascinating, raw and often hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. Although I read the rest of the book, I would describe it as opportunistic. This portion, where Juby talks about various strategies to recovery needs to be a reference guide, and not part of the actual novel. Recommended for the OLA White Pine award for non-fiction in 2012, it will be a fascinating read for its visceral and authentic voice.
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