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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Reading this has definitely opened my eyes to the risks of drinking, and made me aware of my own problematic experiences in the past. A difficult read at times but a book everyone should read in their lifetime, especially when dealing with alcoholism
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Should be required reading for every female who drinks alcohol.
"But there is something essential about entering a person's private haven. I am unprepared for the beauty, the care with which each room has been shaped. This is a home that has been loved into being and it radiates peace." (p.257)
"You will lose someone you can't live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. but this is also the good news. They lives forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up. And you come through. It's like having a broken leg that never heal perfectly - that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp." - Ann Lamott (p.275)
"But there is something essential about entering a person's private haven. I am unprepared for the beauty, the care with which each room has been shaped. This is a home that has been loved into being and it radiates peace." (p.257)
"You will lose someone you can't live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. but this is also the good news. They lives forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up. And you come through. It's like having a broken leg that never heal perfectly - that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp." - Ann Lamott (p.275)
Heart-wrenching is the best description. It is odd to read as someone becomes naked in so many ways that are socially unacceptable, but Johnston makes it work. There is no request for pity as she tells both her story and search for the state of gender equality and drink...just a stark telling of experience (and fact). This is at the top of my 'to recommend' list - and is likely to stay there for a long while.
A rarity for me, a non-fiction pick, Drink is part memoir, part examination of women's relationship with alcohol. Johnston shares her own story, both as the daughter of an alcoholic mother and as an alcoholic herself. Her work is motivated by the underlying fact that alcoholism, once largely a male problem, is impacting more and more women, especially young women. The non-memoir sections include discussions with experts in several fields and, often quite raw, interviews with women affected by alcoholism.
Each chapter in the book focuses on a different aspect of the relationship between women and alcohol. There is a really interesting look on how the alcohol industry took very calculated steps to bring their product to a female audience, a previously neglected market sector. Marketing efforts gradually brought women into the fold, moving them from alcopops (flavored drinks that mask the taste) through several steps to straight shots (including circumstances that find women drinking harder alcohol than their male companions). Some of the most emotional and hard-to-rad sections (from a subject standpoint, the text is always quite readable) look at alcohol and young women, heck, young girls. She makes a very direct link between early (think age 8 or so) alcoholism and sexual abuse, a tie that starts out as a causal relationship and become a vicious cycle as drinking (and drug use) make women more vulnerable to assault/abuse and women turn more to alcohol to mentally/emotionally escape trauma. Other issues: women's physical response to alcohol, alcohol and motherhood, drinking culture on college campuses, alcohol and romance, alcohol and relationships, and the recovery process.
I found this book very readable and very interesting. The information on marketing and the general role of the industry in the rise of female drinking weren't necessarily surprising, but it wasn't a story I'd heard before. I appreciated the personal stories, including Johnston's own story as a professional success story with a long-held secret, although there's definitely a tendency towards shock value (particularly the several stories involving very early drinking). I believe there is an often-underappreciated value in personal stories as evidence...it is probably also a style very much tied to women's studies in general.
Overall, this is an issue that I hadn't heard much about (with the exception of some of the issues involving college-age women and the "drunkorexia" topic) and one that needs to be discussed. Notably, every medical provider who noticed the book (my life involves many waiting rooms...bringing the book wasn't a special effort, it was just what I happened to be reading) commented on it and nodded when I mentioned the rise in alcoholism in women. Female alcoholism will only become more prevalent without focused attention and it will impact every facet of society. This is a worthwhile look at a social/medical/economic/etc. issue that needs to be talked about and Drink is a worthwhile introduction to the topic. Recommended for people interested in social issues, women's health, and a story-centered approach. Might frustrate those who prefer a focus on "harder" facts.
Four of five stars.
Each chapter in the book focuses on a different aspect of the relationship between women and alcohol. There is a really interesting look on how the alcohol industry took very calculated steps to bring their product to a female audience, a previously neglected market sector. Marketing efforts gradually brought women into the fold, moving them from alcopops (flavored drinks that mask the taste) through several steps to straight shots (including circumstances that find women drinking harder alcohol than their male companions). Some of the most emotional and hard-to-rad sections (from a subject standpoint, the text is always quite readable) look at alcohol and young women, heck, young girls. She makes a very direct link between early (think age 8 or so) alcoholism and sexual abuse, a tie that starts out as a causal relationship and become a vicious cycle as drinking (and drug use) make women more vulnerable to assault/abuse and women turn more to alcohol to mentally/emotionally escape trauma. Other issues: women's physical response to alcohol, alcohol and motherhood, drinking culture on college campuses, alcohol and romance, alcohol and relationships, and the recovery process.
I found this book very readable and very interesting. The information on marketing and the general role of the industry in the rise of female drinking weren't necessarily surprising, but it wasn't a story I'd heard before. I appreciated the personal stories, including Johnston's own story as a professional success story with a long-held secret, although there's definitely a tendency towards shock value (particularly the several stories involving very early drinking). I believe there is an often-underappreciated value in personal stories as evidence...it is probably also a style very much tied to women's studies in general.
Overall, this is an issue that I hadn't heard much about (with the exception of some of the issues involving college-age women and the "drunkorexia" topic) and one that needs to be discussed. Notably, every medical provider who noticed the book (my life involves many waiting rooms...bringing the book wasn't a special effort, it was just what I happened to be reading) commented on it and nodded when I mentioned the rise in alcoholism in women. Female alcoholism will only become more prevalent without focused attention and it will impact every facet of society. This is a worthwhile look at a social/medical/economic/etc. issue that needs to be talked about and Drink is a worthwhile introduction to the topic. Recommended for people interested in social issues, women's health, and a story-centered approach. Might frustrate those who prefer a focus on "harder" facts.
Four of five stars.
This is a sobering book. No pun intended—really. The research and anecdotal evidence that Johnston presents is a somber, thought-provoking look at the modern woman’s relationship with alcohol. Johnston, a recovering alcoholic, sets a foundation for the research she cites by telling about her own history with alcohol and her fight to get sober and stay sober. The book does not coddle or waste your time. Johnston has a very specific message she’s trying to get across and it is vividly (painfully) real from the first page. Johnston’s lifelong struggle with having an alcoholic mother made her swear she would never do the same thing to her family and it is heartbreaking to read how subtly, sneakily she began to walk down the same path. There is something startling about reading a book that describes so perfectly the way that I know I (and many other women, friends, coworkers) feel about alcohol. Johnston describes the ever-increasing pressures on women and how this relates to the pressure release valve of the first glass of wine at the end of a long day. God knows I can relate to that. In one portion, Johnston talks about how she loved even the ritual of opening the bottle—removing the cork, hearing the wine glug into the glass, the first warming sip. I have never been a big drinker, but I admit that over the past—oh, 4?— years, my relationship to wine has gotten…closer. This book is worth anyone’s time to read, but I encourage fellow women to pick it up. Her close examination of the way modern women drink (and her research about how women metabolize alcohol differently than men) was eye-opening. In one portion, she cites a CDC report that says female binge drinking (four or more drinks on one occasion in the past month) is a serious unrecognized problem. “Almost 14 million American girls and women binge drink an average of three times each month, typically consuming six drinks per bingeing episode. Meanwhile, one in five high school girls binge drinks.” The age of women most likely to binge drink? Women aged 18-34 with higher household incomes. The health risks Johnston points to are acute: breast cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. She also points out that binge drinkers aren’t necessarily addicted to alcohol. It’s just the way modern women have learned to drink. She cites many reasons for this: The marketing of alcohol specifically to women (Skinnygirl products, for example), the tendency for high school and college-aged women to drink clear liquors like vodka to avoid calories (and thus developing a taste early on for stronger alcoholic drinks), etc. At one point, Johnston writes: “Women need a break. They feel they deserve a break. And if drinking is about escape, it is also about entitlement and empowerment.” At another point, she says, “Has alcohol become the modern woman’s steroid, enabling her to do the heavy lifting necessary in an endlessly complex world? Is it the escape valve women need, in the midst of a major social revolution still unfolding? How much of this is marketing, and how much is the need to numb?” I thought about that for a long time. I’m still thinking about it.
Interesting how many people hate this book. I think it’s phenomenal.
Drinking is a women’s issue and a public health issue. We’re fooling ourselves if we don’t think that corporate interests are to thank for creating a society that glorifies alcohol consumption and that stigmatizes addiction.
Drinking is a women’s issue and a public health issue. We’re fooling ourselves if we don’t think that corporate interests are to thank for creating a society that glorifies alcohol consumption and that stigmatizes addiction.
I jumpstarted my "Dry January" with this equal parts personal story of recovery and journalistic deep dive into the psychological, social, and industry factors that have contributed to the precipitous rise in risky drinking among women and girls. Eye opening to say the least.
I picked this one up randomly at the local 2nd hand shop - as they say, "the more you know...". I'd read about it when it first came out and knew it was mildly controversial. Well, having read the whole thing in a relatively short burst of time, I can say that any controversy around it is superficial because this is a poorly written book. Authoritative or deserved of debate it is not.
Mainly a memoir masquerading as investigative journalism, Johnston spends a great deal of the book telling her story, but without giving too much of herself away. For a drinking memoir, it wasn't particularly impactful. As for the factual part of it, if you are an educated or privileged woman with a strong circle of friends/family, a solid career and money, you'll be inspired to explore a path of redemption as outlined in the book. Most of Johnston's sobriety narrative completely ignores the grim reality of most alcoholics, particularly women. Her persistent remarks about her "not being one of them" were off-putting.
Furthermore, it's just not written very well. There's not nearly enough actual investigation here - statistics, citations, etc. - mainly missing. She sticks with the theories of a handful of sociologists, repeats herself ad nauseum about alcohol being glamourized in society, and then loops back to her own tale of woe. In all honesty, it just sounds like she went through a bad break up and wanted to use the book to communicate with the guy. It felt uncomfortable to read it. Also, the whole justification of religion in AA felt tacked on, patronizing and was not in the least convincing.
Clearly, I'm not recommending this one. It wasn't as thought provoking as I'd hoped and I didn't learn a heckuva lot.
Mainly a memoir masquerading as investigative journalism, Johnston spends a great deal of the book telling her story, but without giving too much of herself away. For a drinking memoir, it wasn't particularly impactful. As for the factual part of it, if you are an educated or privileged woman with a strong circle of friends/family, a solid career and money, you'll be inspired to explore a path of redemption as outlined in the book. Most of Johnston's sobriety narrative completely ignores the grim reality of most alcoholics, particularly women. Her persistent remarks about her "not being one of them" were off-putting.
Furthermore, it's just not written very well. There's not nearly enough actual investigation here - statistics, citations, etc. - mainly missing. She sticks with the theories of a handful of sociologists, repeats herself ad nauseum about alcohol being glamourized in society, and then loops back to her own tale of woe. In all honesty, it just sounds like she went through a bad break up and wanted to use the book to communicate with the guy. It felt uncomfortable to read it. Also, the whole justification of religion in AA felt tacked on, patronizing and was not in the least convincing.
Clearly, I'm not recommending this one. It wasn't as thought provoking as I'd hoped and I didn't learn a heckuva lot.