memoir about lawyer who does drugs and drinks

Why don’t lawyers talk about substance abuse?

Jul 15, 2017 · Brian Cuban, a lawyer in recovery for alcohol and drug addiction and the author of the memoir “The Addicted Lawyer: Tales of the Bar, Booze, Blow and Redemption,” would regularly show up for work...

Do lawyers use drugs when they drink alcohol?

Lisa Smith was a bright young lawyer at a prestigious law firm in New York City when alcoholism and drug addiction took over her life. What was once a way she escaped her insecurity and negativity as a teenager became a means of coping with …

What are some famous people doing to recover from addiction?

Apr 10, 2018 · Prolific, brilliant memoirist Mary Karr shines a light on the dark years she spent descending into alcoholism and drug use as a young writer, wife, and mother. As her marriage dissolved and she ...

Is ‘Wishful Drinking’ a memoir?

A Piece of Cake: A Memoir by Cupcake Brown When Cupcake Brown was 11, her mother choked to death during a seizure. The young girl ended up in …

What is Caroline Knapp's drinking life?

Journalist Caroline Knapp describes her life as a functioning alcoholic in this memoir that details the roots of her issues to the crises that led her to finally confront her drinking problem. Drinking: A Love Story chronicles how Knapp’s upper-class upbringing affected her mental health and spawned her addiction, and how another memoir – Pete Hamill’s A Drinking Life – set her on the road to recovery. Order a copy here.

What is the book Drunk Mom about?

Lena Dunham called Drunk Mom “an intense, complex and disturbing story” that left her “jaw on the floor.” So don’t just take our word for it: This story of one new mother’s descent back into the depths of alcoholism is an excruciating memoir that you can’t turn away from. Order a copy here.

What is Mary Karr's book about?

Prolific, brilliant memoirist Mary Karr shines a light on the dark years she spent descending into alcoholism and drug use as a young writer, wife, and mother. As her marriage dissolved and she struggled to find a reason to stay clean, Karr turned to Catholicism as a light at the end of the tunnel. Order a copy here.

What is the author's relationship to addiction in the empathy exam?

The Empathy Exams author’s stunning new book juxtaposes her own relationship to addiction with stories of literary legends like Raymond Carver, and imbues it with rich cultural history. The result is a definitive treatment of the American recovery movement, a memoir in the subgenre like no other.

What is Bill Lee's first novel about?

In his first novel, Burroughs gives a vivid, semi-autobiographical account of heroin addiction in the early 1950s. A reflection of the beat generation, the fictionalized Burroughs (“Bill Lee”) navigates the underworld of opiate addiction as both user and small-time dealer and explores subjects completely taboo in the '50s – not only drugs, but of homosexuality as well. Order a copy here.

What is Leslie Jamison's new book about?

In Leslie Jamison’s new memoir The Recovering, she cites the great writers before her who’ve battled alcoholism and addiction. Indeed, she’s hardly the first: Many celebrated authors have walked the long, painful road to recovery, spinning their experiences into powerful reads. Ahead, see the 15 stories of struggle, failure, recovery, and grace us the most.

What is the story behind Tweak?

In his follow-up to his first memoir, Tweak, which dealt with his journey into meth addiction, Sheff details his struggle to stay clean. In and out of rehab, he falls into relapse, engaging in toxic relationships and other self-destructive behaviors that threaten to undo the hard-won progress he’s made.

Who said "I am an alcoholic"?

Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction by Elizabeth Vargas. Former ABC television journalist Elizabeth Vargas hid her addiction and anxiety from the world for years, until she said the words “I am an alcoholic” to interviewer George Stephanopoulos in 2014.

Who wrote the book "As someone who has generalized anxiety disorder that led to my substance abuse"?

“As someone who has generalized anxiety disorder that led to my substance abuse, I very much saw myself in Vargas’ tale,” writer Irina Gonzalez tells SELF.

What is Porochista Khakpour's memoir about?

But it also details her journey with addiction to the pills prescribed to treat her insomnia and her struggles with mental health. Is it ever possible to be in full recovery? Khakpour’s book doesn’t provide the answer, but it might help us accept that, for some of us, sickness is a permanent part of our condition—“with you as long as life is with you,” as she writes in the epilogue—and that it doesn’t mean our lives don’t have value.

How did Cupcake Brown's mother die?

When Cupcake Brown was 11, her mother choked to death during a seizure. The young girl ended up in the foster care system, where she was physically and sexually abused. She soon became involved in alcohol and drugs and was being sexually exploited in order to get money to survive.

When was the book The Road to Recovery first published?

Allen’s powerful, uplifting tale was first published in 1978, and while the slang may belong to another era, the message is timeless. The road to recovery is different for everyone, but with a little courage and faith (wherever you find it), it’s possible for many of us to walk it. Buy it: $15, amazon.com.

Who is Erin Khar?

Advice columnist Erin Khar’s memoir about her 15-year experience with heroin is an emotional read and a vital contribution to the conversation about addiction in general and the opioid crisis in particular. ( Khar has previously written for SELF .)

Who wrote "Quit Like a Woman"?

Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed With Alcohol by Holly Whitaker. You don’t have to be sober to get a great deal from Quit Like a Woman, the first book from Holly Whitaker, founder of the digital recovery platform Tempest. ( Whitaker has previously written for SELF .)

Why did Jamison start drinking?

In her early 20s, writer Jamison ( The Empathy Exams) started drinking daily to ease her chronic shyness and deal with the stress of getting her master’s degree at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Identifying with accomplished writers whose creativity seemed to thrive in a haze of intoxication, she fell further into the depths of alcoholism before hitting rock bottom. After failed attempts at sobriety, she found a combination of treatments—attending meetings, sharing her story and the 12-step AA program—that worked for her. Despite being published less than a year ago, Jamison’s memoir is a gritty and honest must-read.

What was Caroline Knapp's love affair with?

She went on to drink her way through four years at an Ivy League college and an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Marrying personal stories with statistics and research, her candid memoir exposes the secrecy, myths and destruction related to alcoholism, as well as her eventual triumph over the disease that controlled her life for more than two decades.

How many books did Carrie Fisher write?

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. After writing four novels, Fisher turner her writerly focus inward, adapting her successful one-woman stage show into a darkly funny and raw memoir about growing up as Hollywood royalty, landing the role of a lifetime at 19 years old and learning from failed relationships, all while struggling with alcoholism, ...

What is the book "Clegg" about?

Capturing the drama, tension, paranoia and short-term bliss of drug addiction, his book explores how the patterns of addiction can be traced to the past.

Who is Heather King?

Parched by Heather King. King is a writer, lawyer and NPR contributor whose memoir chronicles her decades-long downward spiral into alcoholism, from her small New England hometown to seedy restaurants where she waitressed and cockroach-ridden lofts where she lived.

Who wrote Blackout?

Blackout by Sarah Hepola. When she was drunk, writer and editor Hepola was a creative force. But she was also reckless, often finding herself soberly apologizing for things she didn’t remember doing, waking up next to men she didn’t remember meeting and caring for bruises she didn’t remember getting.

What percentage of Americans have a drinking problem?

By comparison, only 6.8 percent of all Americans have a drinking problem. In addition to questions related to alcohol, participants were asked about their use of licit and illicit drugs, including sedatives, marijuana, stimulants and opioids: Seventy-four percent of those who used stimulants took them weekly.

Is there any reliable data on the use of doctor-prescribed stimulants?

While there is no reliable data on the use of doctor-prescribed stimulants, such as Adderall, Vyvanse and Concerta, among lawyers, the soaring rate of prescriptions for stimulants generally and their widespread availability from drug dealers is telling.