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goodem9199's review
4.0
Very, very good...especially if you have had any experience with addiction of any kind, with yourself or others in your life.
limescat's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
Picked this book randomly from my college’s library. I was interested to learn more about the struggles of addiction. Not even halfway through the book I was just infuriated with Neil’s approach to the whole thing. He blamed his wife for his mishaps, he had an ego problem, and he lacked any interest in recovery. Mid-way through the book I stopped caring, I didn’t care if he drank again; if his marriage failed; or if he’s going to lose his job. Moreover, the writing style wasn’t up my alley, and I found the book to be boring. Wouldn’t recommend for peeps who want to see the difficult side of recovery and alcoholism.
jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition
1.0
With a title "Drunkard: A Hard-Drinking Life", I expected an Augusten Burroughs style tale. I was sorely disappointed.
I got to page 173 before I was so infuriated with Neil's excuses, whining, ego and apparent lack of interest in recovery that I gave up. I didn't CARE if Neil drank again or recovered; if his marriage survived or failed; or if he was allowed to continue writing his newspaper column.
To add insult to injury, Neil's journey towards alcoholism is just plain BORING. There were no wild-drinking stories. Just a slow and steady decent into alcoholism by a boring, middle-aged suburbanite.
This book earns the dubious distinction of being the furthest I've gotten into a book before abandoning it.
If you're looking for an interesting memoir about addiction, I'd suggest sticking to "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs or "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey.
I got to page 173 before I was so infuriated with Neil's excuses, whining, ego and apparent lack of interest in recovery that I gave up. I didn't CARE if Neil drank again or recovered; if his marriage survived or failed; or if he was allowed to continue writing his newspaper column.
To add insult to injury, Neil's journey towards alcoholism is just plain BORING. There were no wild-drinking stories. Just a slow and steady decent into alcoholism by a boring, middle-aged suburbanite.
This book earns the dubious distinction of being the furthest I've gotten into a book before abandoning it.
If you're looking for an interesting memoir about addiction, I'd suggest sticking to "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs or "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey.
library_lurker's review against another edition
i made it to page 61 of this book. i picked it up because i'm writing about the midwest and this guy lives in the chicago burbs. also he's an alcoholic and i'm an alcoholic so i thought reading his story would be helpful.
but, omg, this guy is UNBEARABLE. he is publicly humiliated after hitting his wife, an action for which he doesn't seem to apologize (but does ponder divorcing her over, even though it was entirely his fault) and the paper for which he works writes an article about it. he gets arrested by cops that APOLOGIZE to him and say that they love his chicago sun times column, and gets off incredibly easy and cannot stop being a dick. he goes to court-ordered rehab and literally writes, "how can i possibly be helped by someone whose office is smaller than my own?" then he complains that the intake worker didn't laugh at his joke about child sexual abuse!!!! you can't make this shit up.
he clearly thinks he's so much smarter than everyone else in rehab. i spent years working in a rehab, and these wealthy white guys who love telling staff they're doing everything wrong, despite the fact that said person's life is a complete and utter mess, are everyone's LEAST favorite client. i wish i could hug the people who had to put up with this asshole. i also heard, via these reviews, that he's drinking again and writing columns about it, probably lauding himself while putting his family through hell. seriously, fuck this guy.
but, omg, this guy is UNBEARABLE. he is publicly humiliated after hitting his wife, an action for which he doesn't seem to apologize (but does ponder divorcing her over, even though it was entirely his fault) and the paper for which he works writes an article about it. he gets arrested by cops that APOLOGIZE to him and say that they love his chicago sun times column, and gets off incredibly easy and cannot stop being a dick. he goes to court-ordered rehab and literally writes, "how can i possibly be helped by someone whose office is smaller than my own?" then he complains that the intake worker didn't laugh at his joke about child sexual abuse!!!! you can't make this shit up.
he clearly thinks he's so much smarter than everyone else in rehab. i spent years working in a rehab, and these wealthy white guys who love telling staff they're doing everything wrong, despite the fact that said person's life is a complete and utter mess, are everyone's LEAST favorite client. i wish i could hug the people who had to put up with this asshole. i also heard, via these reviews, that he's drinking again and writing columns about it, probably lauding himself while putting his family through hell. seriously, fuck this guy.
yooperann's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't really particularly enjoy Steinberg until after he sobered up, so I'd missed this book when it came out. But I'm enough of a fan now that when he mentioned this recently I tracked down a copy. It's absolutely excellent. It's not really more or less than it purports to be--one man's story of how alcohol was central to his life right up until it was about to cost him everything. He doesn't get sober in any dramatic way--he gets help, he relapses, he gets some more help, he screws up, and finally it holds--but the writing is so intimate that I found it hard to put it down.
satyridae's review against another edition
3.0
Well-written and wry, this memoir pulls no punches and provides more than a few laughs along the way.
corey's review against another edition
3.0
Read this a while ago, but from what I remember it was a well-written, touching account of a man's struggle with alcoholism. I wish I remembered something beyond that blurb-sized nugget, but I don't remember much besides I enjoyed it quite a bit.
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