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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This was a really great book.
I got a lot out of it, and found it pretty important of a read.
Subjects covered:
Addiction, silicone valley, and modern family.
4.8/5
I got a lot out of it, and found it pretty important of a read.
Subjects covered:
Addiction, silicone valley, and modern family.
4.8/5
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
The narrator/author did such a good job reading this book. She did immense research and shared a lot of good information around drug abuse. It was a fast listen because she aligned the timing of events well. No sexual content. Mild swearing... I think.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Another book about big law and its nefarious consequences, but a nonfiction book. Eilene is divorced from Peter but they share parenting their children and remain friends. Peter seems distracted and misses appointments; he is overly thin and says he was diagnosed with autoimmune disease. He is also a senior partner in a large law firm with a hefty salary, a house on the beach in Del Mar, sports cars, and a life most would envy. One day when Peter doesn't respond to calls Eilene goes to his house and finds him dead, the victim of infections caused by use of opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamines. How did she not know he was addicted to drugs? Eilene, a journalist, begins studying drugs and their effects and law firms and the people who work in them to better understand what happened to Peter. A compelling and highly readable book making me happy I migrated to the federal government from a big law firm
Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction and Tragedy by Eilene ZImmerman was a powerful memoir about the author's ex-husband's death. Once a goal-oriented and driven lawyer who was financially successful, Peter's life ended due to his secret drug addiction. After his death, Eilene begins to explore what happened. How did she not know Peter's struggles? Why did this happen? What could have been done differently? The story begins with her backtracking through their past. She looks back at moments before Peter's overdose, and she sees new truths. What she realizes is that Peter was going to great lengths to hide his addiction, and she could not have known. However, at the same time, she sees for the first time what he was doing for his addiction. In the other sections of the book, she explores trends around career and addiction. She puts her journalist skills to work, and she does immersive research on the commonality of Peter's struggles. Throughout, she does not try to tell Peter's story and fill in gaps. Instead, she shares what she knows of his story and what she then learns from her research. To me, this gave the story power. She was writing from a place of someone who lost someone they loved and wanted to understand why this happened. This is a powerful and raw story of addiction. Peter's story was incredibly emotional, and the impact was further amplified by the information about the prevalence of this happening. This is an important read to understand the impact of addiction today. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced look at this February 2020 release.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Raw, compelling, and powerful. The memoir portion of the book was very readable, I did it in one sitting. I was struck by the author's honesty and compassion in relaying the story of her life with her ex-husband and her failure to recognize his drug addiction until it was too late. The last section of the book, the author's research into white collar drug use, was eye-opening, and offered a lot of food for thought.
Heartbreaking tale of addiction.
* I read an advance copy and was not compensated
* I read an advance copy and was not compensated
I was intrigued by the hook in this memoir - man successfully hiding a drug habit until he ODs and his ex-wife discovers him and she pieces together what she missed in their life together. DNF'd at 21% because to that point it's about her reflections of her past issues and how they impacted her relationship with the man. I'm far more interested in holy-cow-the-man-I-married-is-nothing-like-I-thought-he-was-what-the-hell-happened-here-and-now-what! I didn't want to wade through the backstory before getting to the point, so I didn't.
Someone who enjoys memoir and self-discovery and reflection more than I do might enjoy this just fine. It's well written.
(Re-reading the subtitle I'm annoyed. That's not what I got at all in the first 21%. White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy were what I was there for!)
Someone who enjoys memoir and self-discovery and reflection more than I do might enjoy this just fine. It's well written.
(Re-reading the subtitle I'm annoyed. That's not what I got at all in the first 21%. White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy were what I was there for!)