Addiction Memoirs Are a Genre in Recovery The New York Times

This powerful book narrates his ups and downs, setbacks, and unimaginable challenges in recovery. Ultimately, Augusten tells the story of how his most difficult experiences led him to getting clean and helping others. The Sober Diaries follows the narrative of author Clare Pool’s journey in quitting drinking. The book covers her best alcoholic memoirs whole first-year experience of sobriety, as well as the unexpected challenges she faced along the way. Cupcake Brown was 11 when she was orphaned and placed into foster care. She grew up with a tragic journey, running away and becoming exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sex at a young age, and leaning on those vices to get by.

• Detailing a love of medicine, motorcycles, and men, this revealing chronicle of a stunning life comes from a physician first famed for writings on the mysteries of the brain.
• As a wildly famous celebrity, he struggled with more than just alcohol.
• A full cast shines in the clever conversational format of Mira Jacob’s affectionate memoir centered on navigating tough topics (like American identity and interracial families) with her inquisitive six-year-old son.
• The former was a 2006 Oprah’s Book Club pick, touted as a riveting memoir about the 23-year-old’s life of crime, drug abuse, and rehabilitation.
• Early sobriety forces, like giving birth, a quick and complete break with a former life in order to make way for a new, sometimes ambiguously desired one.

Penetrating and profound, Lost & Found captures the extraordinary joys and sorrows of ordinary life. When Hsu arrived at Berkeley in the 1990s, a rebellious undergrad obsessed with creating zines and developing “a worldview defined by music,” he made an unexpected friend. It all came crashing down when Ken was murdered in a carjacking, sending Hsu into a decades-long spiral of grief and guilt. Ever since, Hsu has been trying to write Stay True, a wrenching memoir about who Ken was and what Ken taught him. At once a love letter, a coming-of-age tale, and an elegy, it’s one of the best books about friendship ever written.

What makes these memoirs great?

Self-help books are yet another device that can support your efforts. Granted, books certainly can’t replace treatment and professional guidance. But they can provide fresh perspectives and inspiration—and reinforce that you’re not alone. When people start to evaluate their relationship with alcohol, they often “collect different prompts and data points,” said Aaron Weiner, a clinical psychologist practicing in Chicago. “Books are one of these data points” that help people realize they might have a problem, he said. Admitting you have a problem — not to mention actually getting sober — is no small feat.

She further educates the reader with research and a better understanding of the psychology and physiology that drive female addiction with humor and exceptional insight. Clegg’s manic spiral is related in a relentless present tense, in a prose that’s sparse and detached—and lit up by little flares of lyricism to conjure each hit. Horrified and enthralled, we see the world through Clegg’s increasingly despairing gaze—and a part of us longs as much as he does for another fix to provide some relief from the horror. Although both are worth reading, it’s the first I find myself returning to, marvelling at its ability to conjure the insanity of addiction from inside its diabolical reality.

More Resources on Your Sobriety Journey

Interestingly, Russell Brand was fourteen years sober at the time of writing Recovery. Overall, this book is perfect for anyone who’d enjoy an entertaining and surprisingly uplifting story about ending the cycle of addiction. This is an approachable recipe book using everyday healthy ingredients to make delicious alcohol-free drinks for every occasion. Developed by registered dietitians, this book takes a new twist on classic cocktails. You’ll also find options for dessert drinks, frozen drinks, and holiday drinks without relying on sugar for flavor. Reading We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen can quite possibly save your life.