A review by zooniareader
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

2.0

I had to read this book for a brownbag discussion at work, and had a really hard time on several different levels. It became really monotonous, especially during the college years, and I was just disgusted at the excess. She writes well (poetic and insightful), but could have been a lot more effective with her commentary/story in a shorter format. Also had a hard time believing some of the insight she supposedly had during some of the incidents and the detailed memories of drinking episodes. It's an interesting perspective on female underage drinking, but I think she leans too much toward blaming media, peers, parents, campus administrators, etc., and too little toward the roles that critical thinking and personal responsibility play in people's behavior.