Quit Like a Woman

The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol

By: Holly Whitaker

Narrated by: Holly Whitaker

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“You don’t know how much you need this book, or maybe you do. Either way, it will save your life.”—Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30 co-founder and CEO

The founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety.

We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol’s ubiquity—in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn’t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don’t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but.

When Holly Whitaker decided to seek help after one too many benders, she embarked on a journey that led not only to her own sobriety, but revealed the insidious role alcohol plays in our society and in the lives of women in particular. What’s more, she could not ignore the ways that alcohol companies were targeting women, just as the tobacco industry had successfully done generations before. Fueled by her own emerging feminism, she also realized that the predominant systems of recovery are archaic, patriarchal, and ineffective for the unique needs of women and other historically oppressed people—who don’t need to lose their egos and surrender to a male concept of God, as the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous state, but who need to cultivate a deeper understanding of their own identities and take control of their lives. When Holly found an alternate way out of her own addiction, she felt a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone questioning their relationship with drinking, so that they might find their way as well. Her resultant feminine-centric recovery program focuses on getting at the root causes that lead people to overindulge and provides the tools necessary to break the cycle of addiction, showing us what is possible when we remove alcohol and destroy our belief system around it.

Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You will never look at drinking the same way again.

Critic reviews

“An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself. It will change your relationship with alcohol—and it has the power to change your relationship with your entire life.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“A funny, fast-paced, and bracingly candid dispatch from the realm of the self-actualized, but Holly Whitaker is no polished model of self-help evangelism, nor is her memoir-manifesto selling a one-size-fits-all solution. Her story is a messy human one and all the more convincing that sobriety is a feminist issue.”—Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

“As a culture, we have a weird and often dysfunctional relationship with alcohol. This thoughtful, moving book will help a lot of people get to a healthier place.”—Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections

“Holly Whitaker is a genius: brilliantly clever, fearless, snort-out-loud funny.”—Catherine Gray, author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

“Brave and revolutionary, Whitaker has written a compulsively readable book about creating a life you don’t want to escape. Funny, insightful, and candid, it is a must-read for anyone embarking on the adventure of abandoning alcohol.”—Ann Dowsett Johnston, author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol

“A vital, timely, and intriguing analysis of women and alcohol . . . Whitaker cuts to the quick of the issues, skillfully using gripping anecdotes and well-researched insights to educate, liberate, and provide real hope and tangible steps for anyone looking to quit like a woman.”—Annie Grace, author of This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life

“Raw, vulnerable, and unapologetic. Holly Whitaker brings these ingredients together for a fresh and needed perspective as well as a great read.”—Jud Brewer, MD, PhD, author of The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love—Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits

“Following in the footsteps of titles such as Rachel Hollis’s Girl, Wash Your Face, Whitaker aims her first book at modern, urban women—specifically those who are concerned that they might have a problem with alcohol. Part self-help, part recovery memoir, this personal account provides useful and inspiring techniques for addiction recovery.”—Library Journal

“In this blending of memoir and advocacy for an alcohol-free lifestyle, Whitaker . . . offer[s] inspiration to others in need of guidance or permission to find their own paths.”—Booklist

Life Changing! Life Saving!

For the first time in my 49 years, I am crazily excited and pumped about quitting the liquid that has sucked the life from me and my family for 20 years 🎉♥️🎉

Great listen

This was a great listen. Holly’s voice is soothing yet intriguing. The content is quality, with personal story, cold hard facts, and community implications. I personally loved that she more than touches on POC, lgbtqia, and other marginalized folk as that should matter to everyone. I am gonna go do some yoga today and add that back into my life. Thank you Holly for this treat!

A great story for alcoholics and normies

great stoey for alcoholics and normies. Holly is dynamic and. vwry real about rhw topic

Outstanding, writing, and message delivered with passion!

This book will make you rethink so many things about traditional recovery methods, and so many other aspects of the human experience, while also shedding, needed light on the sickness of a patriarchal society. This is a book I wish every woman would read (and men too), and not just women in recovery.

The personal is political.

Written by a woman for women- a love story about how to love yourself.

If you aren’t open to learning about how addiction happens within (and maybe in part because of) the larger backdrop of society, with all of our inequities, racist policies, patriarchal structures, etc... you may not like this book. For me it helped me contextualize my experience with alcohol and other addictive substances, and the experience of alcohol addiction in my family lineage, to understand addiction within a sick society and the power structures that underlie our daily lives. Holly is unapologetic and owns her own story. To many she may seem harsh, brash, any other words that come to mind to describe a woman who refuses to be what other people want her to be. I appreciated it and needed it and am grateful that she put herself out there to be criticized and told she was wrong and did it anyway. We need more women who tell their story anyway and be who they are anyway, despite a society that tells them to stay in their place. So thank you Holly for this book and for sharing yourself without apology- it had a profound effect on me and my sense of worth, as a woman.

(I found myself at times feeling resistant and thinking things like- “woah, she’s kind of harsh/brash” ... it was interesting to notice what arose in me as I heard a woman share her story without apology. The resistance I felt and that many of you feel is the very reason we need more women like this to share their story. We aren’t used to hearing a woman own her story, proclaim a love for herself and a commitment to prioritize herself above existing systems that kept her small, that kept her addicted to alcohol. To honor her innate wisdom. That is the power of this book and I hope you will notice your own resistance as you listen and get curious about it. It’s the medicine we need.)