A review by jewellspring
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

4.0

Chronicling the progression of alcoholism, Caroline Knapp writes a memoir that engaged me in style and substance. While never clearly stating conclusions (My dad was also an alcoholic, Alcohol is more addicting than...because...) she paints a "sober" reality of the slow seducing power of life with alcohol and why some of us can handle it and some of us just can't. I really appreciated how she set up the time-line of her story...chronological yet interspersing dramatic scenes to illustrate the narrative, as in opening with the scene of her last drunk Thanksgiving where she almost killed her friend's daughter while taking a walk. Anyone who resonates with the power that drink can provide will resonate with the psychological rationale fueling the progression and those who can't understand how it can ever get "that bad" or thinks it's a matter of will can appreciate her description, especially if you have a loved one that suffers or you suffer by.