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Drinking
- A Love Story
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Women
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Summary
Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor", a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it.
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What listeners say about Drinking
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ms. A. Kennedy
- 22-06-13
Amazing narration and very conversational story
What made the experience of listening to Drinking the most enjoyable?
The narrator of this book is excellent.It is not author of the book but sounds like she is. I feel like this woman is sitting next to me telling her story.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Drinking?
there are many...Just the honesty and accuracy of the unfolding life and the analysis of those small subtle moments in her life that stayed with her.
Have you listened to any of Gabra Zackman’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Haven't listened to this lady until now but you can be very sure I will look for other books she has narrated. A real natural. Probably the best I have heard.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
I see it now...
Any additional comments?
Great Storyteller, both the author and the narrator. Probably the only audio book that has had my attention the entire time.
5 people found this helpful
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- john
- 03-05-15
good listen
well worth reading or listening to as it shows how drinking over time can control and dictate your life.
4 people found this helpful
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- Hazel
- 09-11-15
Enjoyed this more than I thought i would
Any additional comments?
I really enjoyed this book and sometimes forgot it was a true memoir. I constantly wanted to know what happened next. I Was saddened to learn after reading this book that she died at only 42 from Lung Cancer.
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-11-14
Not what I had expected
What did you like best about Drinking? What did you like least?
I bought this on the back of other self help audio books (Craig Beck). I was hoping that this would be similar. It wasn't. My fault for not doing my research. Whilst I could empathise with the author's experiences, I feel the story could have ben told in half the time. I found a lot of it repetitive.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
Empathy with the author's experiences.... very repetitive
Did Gabra Zackman do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?
Not really.
Was Drinking worth the listening time?
No, it was too long
Any additional comments?
It's worth a listen as a story but not self help.
4 people found this helpful
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- Jo
- 25-01-17
Couldn't stop listening
An extremely well written and well performed audio book. I was hooked and couldn't wait to listen to it.
1 person found this helpful
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- FB
- 03-11-16
Well read and well written
The narrator has a lovely voice. A little too wistful at times but easy to listen to. A very well written book. Painful and hopeful at the same time. I enjoyed it.
1 person found this helpful
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- Josephine
- 15-02-21
Excellent book
I found this book really useful. The author shares her story without drama and truly demonstrates how alcoholism impacts everyone. It's also so very honest... No miracle cure but lots of strength and hope.
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-02-21
Loved listening to Caroline’s voice
Caroline’s voice gave me the impression of a strong and grounded woman who took no messing, yet her story showed a vulnerable scared woman who was caught in the alcohol trap. Believing alcohol was the only thing that got her through tough times and good and bad days. I’m so glad she managed to beat the demon drink and so sad to learn of her death at such a young age 42. Life is a bitch, make the best of it whilst you can. Ditch the booze and savour every sober minute.
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- Orla Illu
- 12-01-21
life changing
I was hooked from start to finish. Caroline's writing is so beautiful and raw, and made think differently about addiction. I realised that its like an abusive relationship, messy and heartbreaking and seemingly impossible to quit until you do. I can't recommend enough to anyone (particularly women) struggling with alcohol addiction.
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- ponnie
- 19-09-20
Loved it. Totally related to the honest story.
Loved it. Totally related to the honest story. I would highly recommend it to anyone struggling with addiction.
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- Karen K
- 26-07-16
The Big Picture of Alcohol Dependence
I find memoirs of female alcoholics interesting, (For some reason the male alcoholic memoir seems to have been done to death). This however, is a really good one for getting a big picture of alcoholism over a long span. Knapp is billed as a high functioning alcoholic and we really see how at first things seem under control and then over time start to decay around her. I like how you can go from reading about alcohol in that infatuated way at first and then come to the end and see how really it is no fun at all. I feel like the author has missed something if their alcoholism memoir makes me feel like drinking. I also like that this isn't a book full of a long list of embarrassing episodes that make you cringe. There was more to her decision that she was an alcoholic than repeated embarrassing mistakes. Not to imply that she doesn't make many bad decisions, only that there is more to her than that. Often addiction memoirs fall flat when the author gets to the recovery period and begins making many general statements - in this case she talks a lot of women and the negative impact of sexuality and men. It annoyed me at first, but I had to realize that at that point she was generalizing from her discussions with other female alcoholics and not necessarily implying these things applied to the better adjusted non addicted members of society. I found it interesting also how at first she talks about a certain amount of denial because to her alcoholics have alcoholic family members and dysfunctional family situations and she's from an upper class family, but over time we discover with her that she is indeed part of a dysfunctional family with alcoholics after all. It made me sad to realize that she only lived a short time after writing this memoir. It was such a long road to gaining this control over her life and having finally done it she had so little time to enjoy it.
37 people found this helpful
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- Julia
- 02-09-17
Bill W and Dr Bob would be so proud
Even after twenty four years of sobriety I can still appreciate and need a book as important yet still as humble as this. I feel that within these pages is knowledge for someone who is on the brink of making the decision of getting clean and sober, someone who has just picked up a white of thirty day chip. Someone like me or perhaps someone who is living with or has someone in their lives who is struggling with an addiction or someone who thought that they had kicked the booze and/or drugs but fell hard off the wagon and needs a little advice to get back up again. In other words... this book is for everyone.
Caroline Knapp bares her soul and relates stories of others, but discreetly remembering to keep the code of the AA rooms sharing all the things that we addicts do shamefully because of the dreadful disease that we carry. She explains with statistics that we are not weak willed but most of us are above average when it comes to intelligence quota. We have careers. We pay our taxes. We live up to our responsibilities plus we do all the regular things in life and carry the weight of an elephant on our shoulders. That elephant being addiction. Exhausting.
An honest book, well written. A lovely performance by Gabra Zackman
12 people found this helpful
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- Jessica Yas Barker
- 06-09-16
The very best
I've been reading a lot of addiction memoirs recently and for me, an analytical woman who sometimes overthinks things, this one was the absolute best. Knapp is so graceful and insightful in her introspection. I found myself nodding constantly and saying aloud, "yes! Yes!" to so many things she says. Things I've always thought about myself but never been able to put into words. Thank you Ms. Knapp for this amazing, artful work.
16 people found this helpful
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- Katie Brewer
- 15-03-16
Good for family of alcoholics to read too
Well written and informative. Provided good insight in to the habits and realities of an alcoholic.
4 people found this helpful
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- james Hamm
- 23-11-14
Amazing
Would you consider the audio edition of Drinking to be better than the print version?
I've read a few memoirs on alcoholism and this is truly the best I've encountered. Knapp's words ring so true, in such a poignant and eloquent way. I'd highly recommend this audio book not only for its touching content but also for its moving narration.
13 people found this helpful
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- Everard (Desert Islander)
- 04-05-16
A beautiful book
A beautiful book, all the more so because it is narrated with such empathy. I found myself listening all day long and most of the night, with two or three hours of sleep in between. This is so much worth listening to 👌🏼.
3 people found this helpful
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- Lisa G
- 11-04-16
For non-alcoholics too
This is a great listen for non-alcoholics too, , giving insight into the throes of addiction to alcohol from the inside.
3 people found this helpful
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- P. Meier
- 03-11-15
Fantastic book
What an incredible story. I don't think I've ever read so honest a book. I feel I've peered right into the authors soul. I highly recommend this book if you have ever struggled with alcohol related issues
3 people found this helpful
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- ELISE
- 17-05-15
A Must Listen to for Women in Recovery
Excellent book! Found lots of similarities in our stories! It's a great read for women in recovery. Great narrator, will definitely listen to again.
3 people found this helpful
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- Tomtom
- 09-03-19
Very good book if I could give 6 stars I would
If you drink and think your an alcoholic read this book. It sooo good and well written I thank the author for this book
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