A personal narrative of addiction and the culture that birthed it

On the surface, Leslie Jamison’s book might appear to be just another memoir about addiction and recovery. Indeed, the author herself worries that what she has to say about her struggles with alcoholism will be dismissed out of hand: “Who would care? This is boring! When I told people I was writing a book about addiction and recovery, I often saw their eyes glaze. Oh, that book, they seemed to say, I’ve already read that book.”

As memoirist, Jamison starts at the very beginning: “The first time I ever felt the buzz I was almost thirteen. I didn’t vomit or black out or even embarrass myself. I just loved it.” (The intensity of this first taste for some is not unusual. Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson experienced the same immediate euphoria.)

We learn about the divorce of Jami­son’s parents when she was six, her longing for approval from a too-distant father, acute shyness, and anorexia and other forms of self-harm. Upon graduating from Harvard at age 21, Jamison gained a coveted spot in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. But all was not well. She found herself sleeping with near strangers, and blackouts became increasingly common.