Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

[desiderata]

I was at the halfprice bookstore the other day and decided to get this book. It's been one that I had wanted to read for awhile and couldn't find at my local library. I'm not very far into the book--about thirty pages, but I find it is incredibly similar to eating disorders. I know I can really relate to her living as a "functional alcoholic" only as a "functional ed'd person"--that thinking of that "I do not fit the stereotypic definition of an eating disorder, I'm functioning fine, I'm able to do this, this, this, etc.

Aynway, it's a very interesting read. Her book Appetites, published posthumously is also very good.

Dae

[glorybox]

I've been meaning to look for this book. I, too, read Appetites and thought it was extremely well-written. She made some very good points and I learned a lot from her experiences. Thanks for the recommendation- maybe I'll have to stop by Barnes and Noble later! :winky

[milldog]

I've read both of these and they are by far two of my favorite books. I do have to admit though that parts of Appetites can be pretty triggering for me so I'd advise others to be careful. While the majority of the book is about the meaning behind the behavior, she does talk about calories and weight and stuff. Other parts were triggering just because she so clearly articulated my ED motivations/thoughts for me at times it was like well it must be true because she thinks this as well... Ridiculous, I know, but just in case anyone else is sensitive to that stuff :)

[Gabriela]

Drinking, A Love Story and Appetites are two of the books I've been reccomending to everyone. I gave a copy of Appetitites to a friend who wanted to understand what underlies an ED better and it prompted some of the most honest and interesting conversations we've had. I thought it was helpful to read the chapter in Drinking (I think it occurs about half way through) where Knapp discusses women and addiction-- she outlines several factors that trigger addictions and when I read it a little light went off for me. Desidierta, what a great book to reccomend-- let us know what you think as you get further along, I'm interested to hear what other people got out of it.

[Thaleia]

I agree that Drinking is a very poignant book and very well-written. i recently purchased appetites but i haven't started it yet...

i wasn't aware that the author had died? was her death ED related?

[milldog]

She died from lung cancer. Or complications due to lung cancer. So I guess not directly related to ED.

[BaileyJack]

Just curious if any of you have ready the compilation of some of her columns. That book is called "The Merry Recluse". I was very sad when I discovered she had passed away. She was a beautiful, talented writer and woman. I could always relate to her writing.

[desiderata]

I'm really glad that at the feedback on this book. I just find so many things I can relate to--Ed, self-esteem, her thinking, etc. There are many lines from the book I've bracketed to go back to once I finish the book. I'm only about halfway through. I was watching the "Devil Wears Prada" last night on pay per view.

I haven't read Merry Recluse, but I'd like to read it. I'll put in on my reading list. If you google her name, you can get a lot of information about her. It is very sad that her life was cut short by cancer.

Caroline Knapp also wrote a doggie book called Pack of Two about her relationshiop with her dog, Lucille. I didn't find that one as good as these two, but then again, I'm a bit biased in the dog department.:sarcasm

Dae

[DeepWaters]

Hey you All :shy,

I love, love, love Caroline Knapp's books - and Drinking: A love Story is my favorite one. I mentioned in the :bowl....not too long ago.

It's weird, but I feel like I got more out of her Drinking: A love Story - in regards to my own recovery from an ED - than from Appetites (though, I loved that one too :yay). I guess it's because the family dynamics in my home are a lot like she describes in this book. My dad is an alcoholic and a doctor. My mom is like hers in many ways etc. And this one was less triggering (ED-wise) than Appetites, in my opinion.

:hugon Dae :hugoff thanks for starting this thread & I need to check out that book about her and her dog. I think I might like it :winky.

[desiderata]

Just wanted to make a quick reply. I finally finished the book today. I found it to be an excellent read. Knapp makes you be able to see "her" as she spirals into alcoholism. I think what I got most out of this book is just in regards to looking at whatever addiction/disorder you have as a relationship. It's sort of similar to Life Without ED but not in the same way as Shaefer says in "divorcing ED."

Here are a few paragraphs and lines that stood out to me the most and can easily be applicable to eating disorders.

"The truth gnaws at you. In periodic flashes like that I'd be painfully aware that I was living badly, just plain living wrong. But I refused to completely achknowledge or act on that awareness, so the feeling just festered inside like a tumor, gradually eating away at my sense of dignity. You know and you don't know. You know and you won't know, and as long as the outsides of your life remain intact--your job and your professional persona--it's very hard to accept that the insides, the pieces of you that have to do wih integrity and self esteem, are slowly rotting away." Chapter Two Double Life I

"Alcohol offers protection from all that, protection from pain of self-discovery, a wonderful, cocooning protection that's enormously insidious because it's utterly false but it feels so real, so real and necessary. And then, tragically, the protection stops working. The mathematics of transformation change." Chapter Five In Vodka Veritas

"I don't think you can really get out of anorexia (or any addiction for that matter) until you simply have no other choice, until the sense that your back's against a wall grows too strong and too irrefutable, until you are simply in too much pain--too desperate and deeply bored and unhappy--to go on." Chapter Nine Substitution

"You can't stand this (why you feel so miserable)--it's too much--and drinking is the one sure way, to kill the feeling. The circle closes in on itself: the cycle is repeated. You are smack in the middle of the dance of addiction and you can't find your way to the dance floor." Chapter Eleven Giving Over

"Sometimes you can see, but you're not ready to act." Chapter Twelve Glimpse

"I'd stop at some point down the line, I'd stop it when things got better." Chapter Thirteen Double Life II

Dae

[AmyG]

I read Appetites and Drinking A LOve Story. I related to both of them. I saw the ED in both addioctions and my boyfriend is in recovery from alcoholism so it helped me to better understand his history with drinking.

[Hart]

I Just devoured (no pun intended) appetites. I liked it a lot. I have so many similarities to her, although I never smoked....wonder if that's why I have outlived her. I will get the drinking book too. Kind of scary how our stories can be so similar.:surprise