Glorious Rock Bottom

By: Bryony Gordon

Narrated by: Bryony Gordon

Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. 

In Glorious Rock Bottom Bryony opens up about a toxic 20-year relationship with alcohol and drugs and explains exactly why hitting rock bottom - for her, a traumatic event and the abrupt realisation that she was putting herself in danger, time and again - saved her life. 

Known for her trademark honesty, Bryony relives the darkest and most terrifying moments of her addiction, never shying away from the fact that alcoholism robs you of your ability to focus on your family, your work, your health, your children, yourself. And then, a chink of light as the hard work begins - rehab; AA meetings; endless, tedious, painful self-reflection - a roller-coaster ride through self-acceptance, friendship, love and hope, to a joy and pride in staying sober that her younger self could never have imagined.

Shining a light on the deep connection between addiction and mental health issues, Glorious Rock Bottom is in turn shocking, brutal, dark, funny, hopeful and uplifting. It is a sobriety memoir like no other.

©2020 Bryony Gordon (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

absolutely fabulous ⭐

Gave me goosebumps and made me laugh out loud. Truly fun to listen to and the best recovery memoir I've read thus far. Thank you Bryony for sharing your courage, experience, and strength with all of us. I was touched by your openness and honesty.

Wow! This is one NOT TO BE MISSED!

I just finished listening to Bryony’s tale of her pre and post sobriety life and I just wept tears of joy as she wrapped it up. I loved every minute of her journey and self realizations as she wove the chapters beautifully together. She’s an amazing writer AND story teller. I could even hear her feelings come through in her sighs as she had the hard parts to say again but this time out loud and not just own to paper. I know down the line I will be revisiting this one for sure! ❤️

GREAT listen

She is hilarious. The story is raw and truthful and is a good depiction of substance abuse disorder in the lives of people who are *normal*. Working hard, playing hard, and reaping the consequences of the latter

Gems

I've listened (or more accurately, tried to listen) to over a dozen books about female alcoholics. I always quit listening by the time I reach the half-way mark, as I find them dull or too self-indlgent on the author's part. This is the first book on the topic that I have found inspiring. There were so many small pearls of wisdom laced throughout, that I have actually remained sober for two weeks now! The book wasn't preachy, wasn't boring, and most importantly, wasn't full of victimhood. It was just an intelligent, straight-forward telling of one woman's experience. Bottom line: I loved it.

Couldn’t put it down

I love how honest and raw she is. I cried and laughed. She is so good at describing situations and feelings and makes the reader feel like they can really relate.
Shes adorable and hilarious and very likeable. Paints a picture of addiction so accurately it’s amazing. So glad I read this book and was sad it ended!!

Raw, real, honest

I really, really enjoyed this very raw, vulnerable, real look at addiction. It was at times witty, at times cringeworthy, at times heartbreaking... and 100% of the time it was beautiful, brave and honest.

Helpful

I enjoyed Bryony’s story very much, most particularly because of her radical honesty.
However, I can’t help but wonder if she is bipolar which caused her alcoholism and cocaine use to become so extreme.
Does she suffer from a mental health disorder besides OCD?

Her journey follows so many similar stories of addiction and recovery although I still wrestle with certain demands of traditional 12 Step programs. For example, many people who consume nonalcoholic beer, wine and champagne (and more recently mock craft cocktails) become alcohol free for a lifetime.
Choosing to change any harmful behavior requires an intense desire to do so. It is also deeply personal and does not look the same or follow the same rules and guidelines for every person.
Understanding what’s happening in our brains with dopamine and dynorphin is a great place to start if you want motivation to change.

I have observed that there is a large spectrum of alcohol use disorder from mild to severe so the road to ditching it can also be mildly difficult to severely challenging.

Bryony’s voice becoming nearly hysterical throughout the narration was a bit much, not because it was gratuitous but simply because her high pitched, highly dramatic delivery was unpleasant to my ears.

Overall, still very good and worth the listen.

Awesome

Such a heartfelt, relatable memoir about life in recovery. Will read again and look for more by the author. Thank you!

wow

what an awesome story and message! appreciate the honesty and candidness from the author.

Smart, unique straightforward style!

A serious topic delivered as well as/better than any other author. Straight shooter, but comedic & nothing is off-limits.

The answer (again) is perfect partner & money

Like Matt Haig’s book, it seems the answer to many mental problems can be found in the perfect supportive partner and the lifestyle and money to be able to have private treatment. That shouldn’t take away from Briony’s journey which is both amazing and brilliantly written, and it’s not to say the issues suffered aren’t common outside of the privileged classes, but in terms of help to others who don’t have the same.. not sure. But still a good listen and brilliantly written

Ok if you are one of the priveleged few!

Most alcaholics do not have the priveledges of this author. Well done to her for getting sober but others do not have luxurious lifestyles and support to fall back on. She breaks annonimity to talk about AA but does not focus on Big Book or traditions or 12 Steps. I liked her honesty and courage but think it is dangerous to advocate "Going it alone" when suffering a deep depression. Also, think she should have got an Actor to read the book as her untrained voice performance is hard to listen to.

A wake up call

I really enjoyed listening to Bryony's story and I admire her honesty throughout. Her narration was really animated and at times you could hear her becoming choked up with emotion, which added to the performance. For me the book really highlighted how difficult recovery from addiction is. The fact that she had her daughter and husband to do it for (and a supportive family), just shows how difficult it is for those that don't. It also seems that a person must be ready to face their reality before recovery will work.

Fantastic listen

Great to hear Bryony telling her story. Beautifully written and read by her. I laughed, I cried and I identified. Highly recommend to anyone in or out of recovery from alcohol/addiction or who thinks they might have a problem. Thank you Bryony.

Omg ! I managed to complete this in two days with two toddlers

Did I write this book ? I feel you have done my recovery. I can not find the words they really are too many. Inspiration 😘

Brilliant book

Wow!
What an eye opener for me.
I’m so pleased I listened to this book.

It’s going to help me.

Loved it

Flew through this in days. It’s really brave and heart breaking in places. What an illness to have. I have a three year old and it resonated in what she was missing out on when she was ill. I’m so glad she’s stayed sober to enjoy life with her family.

Drivel

Absolute drivel. I had to persevere to finish this book. I found Bryony so self obsessed to the point the book was just boring.

A brave story to tell but overall not impressed

This is the worst quit lit book I've read. I feel it lacks depth in a way. It's a very linear account of her experience, very me me me and she's not in a socioeconomic group that most would relate to.

Couldn't relate

A very middle class and privileged perspective, couldn't relate in the way I had hoped. Seemed like a very rose tinted story of sobriety tbh