The Best Addiction Memoirs for the Sober Curious

White thoughtfully explores boundaries, emotional regulation, body image, shame, and self-care in a way that’s actionable and accessible. The book is short, easy to read, and will leave you with some immediate tools for addressing social situations, sex, and friendship while navigating an alcohol-free lifestyle. This powerful memoir follows Cain’s life as she navigates a substance use disorder, incarceration, and sex work over the course of 19 years.

“Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol” by Ann Dowsett Johnston

Blackout reveals how sobriety helped her discover the confidence, intimacy, and creativity within her—all of which she previously thought could only be found at the bottom of a bottle. Terry achieved long-term sobriety at one time, and she helped many women. It made me realize the pain I would have brought to my parents if they best alcoholic memoirs had lost me. I used to work in fashion/beauty/celebrity PR, and I related to her lifestyle before she got sober. I thought my party-girl ways were so glamourous, but it was really sad and unfulfilling, despite the glitz and glamour. I did many things I am deeply ashamed of, and reading her book taught me that I am not alone.

Addiction Memoirs Are a Genre in Recovery

Most of their friends spent their weekends living the “rose all day” lifestyle, and every first date wanted to meet at a bar. Wondering if you need a drink to live a rich, colorful life? The esteemed and late New York Times columnist David Carr turned his journalistic eye on his own life in this memoir, investigating his own past as a cocaine addict and sifting https://ecosoberhouse.com/ through muddied memories to discover the truth. The story follows Carr’s unbelievable arc through addiction, recovery, cancer, and life as a single parent to come to an understanding of what those dark years meant. In his follow-up to his first memoir, Tweak, which dealt with his journey into meth addiction, Sheff details his struggle to stay clean.

• The book is short, easy to read, and will leave you with some immediate tools for addressing social situations, sex, and friendship while navigating an alcohol-free lifestyle.
• Determined to get clean, Beck develops a unique approach to sobriety that changes the trajectory of his life.
• It’s brutally honest, and her story reads like so many others – some who didn’t make it to recovery.
• Annie’s book is so important (and she’s a wonderful human to boot).

Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola

Former “20/20” anchor Elizabeth Vargas shares her story of anxiety and alcohol use disorder in this compelling memoir. Between Breaths reveals how she lived in denial and secrecy for years before finally entering rehab and a life of sobriety. Eventually saved by her family, King writes with equal parts sensitivity and humor about redemption and compassion for others.

• Mitchell S. Jackson frames the narrative around his own experiences and those of his family and community.
• Her breakthrough arrives as much through exhaustion as some kind of epiphany.
• Her mantra, “Life is too short to stuff a mushroom,” became a feminist rallying cry, finding its way onto matchbooks, dish towels and throw pillows.
• It is well-researched, educational, informative, and at times mind-blowing.
• Journalist Jenny Valentish knows treatment, AA, and the pathways to addiction and recovery.

Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska