Drinking: A Love Story

From the back cover: "Caroline had her first drink at fourteen. She drank through her years at an Ivy League college, and through an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Publicly she was a dutiful daughter a sophisticated professional. Privately, she was drinking herself into oblivion. This startlingly honest memoir lays bare the secrecy, family myths, and destructive relationships that go hand in hand with drinking. And it is, above all, a love story for our times-full of passion and heartbreak, betrayal and desire-a triumph over the painand deception that marked an alcoholic life."

Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp was an engrossing and satisfying read! What I loved most about this book was the rawness that it was written with. Caroline Knapp's story was one that allowed me to have an intimate look inside the life and mind of someone with a substance use disorder. So much so that in the beginning I had to put it down due to how connected I felt to her experiences. Whether it was her interactions with her family or the varied dysfunctional intimate relationships she encountered, Drinking: A Love Story, provided me with an insight I found helpful in working with substance use clients. I enjoyed how she weaved snippets of her younger years in throughout the book. In this way, felt I was able to gain a clearer understanding of how experiences of her youth may have contributed to her love affair with alcohol.

We do not often talk about the unique experiences of women in regard to alcohol use and that is the main reason that I recommend this book. While Caroline Knapp's experience is truly her own, I believe Drinking: A Love Story opens the door to have more conversations about how women's experiences are different and how we can better serve this population.

About the author

Caroline Knapp (November 8, 1959 – June 3, 2002) was an American writer and columnist her best-selling memoir Drinking: A Love Story explored her 20-year battle with substance use disorder(alcohol). Knapp grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated from Brown University in 1981. She was a journalist, a columnist, and a contributing editor for various publications.