Helpful Score: 2
I saw this book in Barnes & Noble under the "New Authors" section. I always check that out. I passed it by and wished I had bought it. I did that a few times until finally I just walked in, picked it up and ran to the cashier before I could change my mind. I love memoirs and this one looked really good.
I am so glad I did... I thought this was one of the most honest accounts of an every day guy falling into the clutches of alcoholism and coming back up. I love that he let us into his mind as he was getting all this information - "sure, great, they think it's normal to relapse, so let's play that for Saturday! Yup, Saturday is relapse day" - okay, not quite like that, but you could see the wheels turning in his head. I thought it was interesting that he found his wife as his "higher power", I was expecting him to find god and go all righteous on us. It was a nice change from the bible beating AA writers I sometimes read.
On the other hand, I felt some of this was sanitized. Don't get me wrong, there was enough things in there that were more than I would have felt comfortable sharing, in parts, he's honest but somewhat detached and that rang very true for what he must have been going through at a time. I can't imagine this disease having a grip on me and at the same time having a spouse who is trying to deal with it in her own way as well. This book left off a couple of years ago I think, I wonder how he's doing now. How is Edie? I think I'll go see if he has an interview update online.
A great read for those of us that like memoirs. I hope he writes another one in a few years if there's more to tell.
I am so glad I did... I thought this was one of the most honest accounts of an every day guy falling into the clutches of alcoholism and coming back up. I love that he let us into his mind as he was getting all this information - "sure, great, they think it's normal to relapse, so let's play that for Saturday! Yup, Saturday is relapse day" - okay, not quite like that, but you could see the wheels turning in his head. I thought it was interesting that he found his wife as his "higher power", I was expecting him to find god and go all righteous on us. It was a nice change from the bible beating AA writers I sometimes read.
On the other hand, I felt some of this was sanitized. Don't get me wrong, there was enough things in there that were more than I would have felt comfortable sharing, in parts, he's honest but somewhat detached and that rang very true for what he must have been going through at a time. I can't imagine this disease having a grip on me and at the same time having a spouse who is trying to deal with it in her own way as well. This book left off a couple of years ago I think, I wonder how he's doing now. How is Edie? I think I'll go see if he has an interview update online.
A great read for those of us that like memoirs. I hope he writes another one in a few years if there's more to tell.
