Bethany57

Oh how sad that she died as the result of smoking. I loved this book...she was everybody's friend. I need to read Pack of Two...I feel like I am in a pack of two...i love my dog!

nel68

What is Pack of Two about? Looking for good summer reading material

Hevyn

Thanks for the reminder - I read it when I was still drinking & cried throughout it. I think I knew what I had to do, but wasn't quite ready. Need to read it again sober. Glad you got so much out of it, desert.

Anna

It's about Caroline's early months in recovery and how her new dog, Lucille, brought joy and comfort to her.

DarrenW

This is my favorite addiction book.

Peter G

I read it as well, on the advice of someone here. Just a brilliant read. So sad that she passed away. Far too early. I suspect she could have touched so many more with future writings. It's like Dee said, I felt like I knew her for my whole life after reading that book. She was most definitely me (with boobs) lol. Highly recommend everyone struggling with alcoholism grab it.

A Million Little Pieces (James Frey) is also a brilliant read. Even though it was 'outted' by Oprah as a non-biographical work of fiction, none-the-less it read like my life story. Guys will definitely relate to that story more than women me thinks, and for most it's easy enough to suspend he disbelief about the author 'embellishing' for dramatic purposes, especially since most of the lies the author embellished were pretty darn accurate accounts of the things that happen to us.

DS, thanks heaps for reminding me about Drinking: A Love Story, I'm gonna dig it up now and read it again. Awesome. See, this is why SR rawks.

debsam

Just finished it about 4 weeks ago and read it in 4 days.

Loved it. Related to so much of it.

HitRockBottom70

I am reading it now and it is incredible!

EXM6

I have been very excited to read this book, as someone here had recommended it to me and I'm about 50 pages in. While it's very well written, I find the underlying pretentiousness in her tone a little irritating. I'm hoping this changes as I get further into the book. Did anyone else find this?

desertsong

How did you find her to be pretentious, EXM? Just curious ... I found her revelations about herself to be very real and very raw. But I'd like to hear your interpretation too.

LDT

Not to be redundant but... I've read it 3 times. And each time I thought it more beautiful and poignant than the time before. I saw no pretentiousness in it.

desertsong

Agreed ... I related to everything she said. Although some of it made me nauseous thinking of my own drinking career, it was reassuring to know that I wasn't the only one who thought the way she did.

Anna

I saw no pretentiousness either, not a bit.

I was blown away by her raw honesty and her deep insight into her own behavior. I would never have been brave enough to write a book like Caroline's.

Inca

Isn't it a great book? It's the first book about alcoholism that I ever read, several years before I actually "got it". It's so genuine and I completely related to it, especially about the perception of being a functional alcoholic. HA!!

Cinderblock18

Thank you for sharing. I read a little excerpt on Amazon, and I could relate as well. Can't wait to pick up the others recommended.
I read "Unwasted" by Sacha Scoblic and really enjoyed it.

Cinderblock18

Oh! I also read this short story last week. I loved it. Very inspirational.
It's called Life of the Party by Becky Tirabassi. I could not post the link, but just Google it. I read it online.

LoremIpsum

I picked up this book as a drinking alcoholic and put it down five days later as a sober alcoholic. I am in very early recovery (day ten today), and while I don't think it was the book that got me sober (it was more the other way round – I wanted to get sober so I read the book), I feel so grateful to Caroline for documenting her story. She was a stunningly honest, witty and clever writer. I so relate to her mix of self-loathing and self-aggrandisement – I think a lot of alcoholics have that in common.

I was devastated to hear she died. She had more books in her. I wish I could thank her for this one.

If anyone has other book recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

LDT

Lorem.....Caroline Knapp did write another book called 'A Pack of Two'. It's about the relationship between people and dogs.

I just finished reading 'Best Kept Secret' by Amy Hatvany....fictional story of an alcoholic mother based on the real life recovery of the author. Really great book (especially for moms).

Also 'Dry', Augusten Burroughs.

LoremIpsum

Thanks LDT. I have Pack of Two on order and plan to read it aloud to my Labrador. Now I'll get Dry as well. I read Burroughs' Running With Scissors and found it hilarious. In a disturbing way.

It's very early days for me, as I said, and I'm struggling with some of the hokey language in the Big Book. I am persevering, but it's super helpful for me to read stories of recovery written in the kind of perverse, cynical voice I'm used to when it comes to literature.