Quitter

A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery

De: Erica C. Barnett

Narrado por: Jean Ann Douglass

"Barnett's prose style is brassy and cleareyed, with echoes of Anne Lamott." --Beth Macy, The New York Times Book Review

"Emotionally devastating and self-aware, this cautionary tale about substance abuse is a worthy heir to Cat Marnell's How to Murder Your Life." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A startlingly frank memoir of one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment

Erica C. Barnett had her first sip of alcohol when she was thirteen, and she quickly developed a taste for drinking to oblivion with her friends. In her late twenties, her addiction became inescapable. Volatile relationships, blackouts, and unsuccessful stints in detox defined her life, with the vodka bottles she hid throughout her apartment and offices acting as both her tormentors and closest friends.

By the time she was in her late thirties, Erica Barnett had run the gauntlet of alcoholism. She had recovered and relapsed time and again, but after each new program or detox center would find herself far from rehabilitated. "Rock bottom," Barnett writes, "is a lie." It is always possible, she learned, to go lower than your lowest point. She found that the terms other alcoholics used to describe the trajectory of their addiction--"rock bottom" and "moment of clarity"--and the mottos touted by Alcoholics Anonymous, such as "let go and let God" and "you're only as sick as your secrets"--didn't correspond to her experience and could actually be detrimental.

With remarkably brave and vulnerable writing, Barnett expands on her personal story to confront the dire state of addiction in America, the rise of alcoholism in American women in the last century, and the lack of rehabilitation options available to addicts. At a time when opioid addiction is a national epidemic and one in twelve Americans suffers from alcohol abuse disorder, Quitter is essential reading for our age and an ultimately hopeful story of Barnett's own hard-fought path to sobriety.

One of the better Alcohol Addiction Memoirs

Erica's story is absolutely heartbreaking. She did an excellent job detailing her childhood and all life events that led up to her Addiction. Her numerous relapses had me gasping out loud. I can totally relate to her experience with the egomaniacal Sponsor who felt she wasn't working the Program correctly. That is a huge problem in AA. Although, I question Erica's decision to spend time in bars because that's where her friends hang out. To me, that is not wise when there are so many other things you can do with friends that don't involve Alcohol. Maybe, she just meant she doesn't avoid bars altogether and only spends time in bars infrequently. That I can understand. She does an absolutely perfect job in the final chapter of analyzing the current situation in the US regarding Addiction Treatment. Treatment for Addiction, like Treatment for Mental Illness, is an obscene joke for which providers should be ashamed. It is mind-blowing how tightly the Treatment Community holds on to 12 Step Programs at the foundation of Sobriety. I highly recommend 12 Step Programs as a supplement to medical treatment, but not as the foundation of treatment and in place of medical treatment. Medical treatment, as Erica states, should include medication and other therapy administered by appropriately qualified professionals. You wouldn't accept a Nurse's Aide as the primary administrator of your Cancer Treatment so why should anybody accept someone with random education of 2 or less years as the administrator of their Addiction Treatment. Someday soon, we will look back on how we treated those with Addiction Disease and Mental Illness in 2020 with as much horror as we have when we look back on treatments involving things like leaches for bleeding the patient.

Wow! A must read!

I couldn’t put it down. I really identified with Erica’s story! I’m a woman in recovery in the Seattle area. So much rang true for me. She verbalized a lot of my experiences in a way I could never. Thank you Erica for sharing your story with us.

loves this

As a recovered addict this book hits home. Great performance and great take on recovery and the 12 steps. overall good read/listen.

Perspective

I liked the narration and different perspective the author offers on this subject. It was very heartfelt and honest

What a ride

Shockingly honest and truly sobering. Well-written and excellent performance. A must-listen for anyone interested in quit lit, alcoholism, sobriety, success, failure, and so so much more.

Brutal Lies + Honesty

An amazingly real, truth of a drinker's life. Probably the most eye opening book I've listened to on this heart wrenching subject.
I'm sharing with friends who have suffered on all sides - alcoholic parents, binge drinking themselves, Covid anxiety increase in alcohol dependency. Last 2 chapters are amazing but not without all the prior. Written & read so well. Read it and weep. Read it and understand. Read it and heal. Thank you Erica.

Valuable memoir

Thanks for your take on rehab and all your recommendations! This system is flawed and needs to improve. Sadly I see the same patients detox over and over again in the ICU; it’s heart breaking. We need to find a better way!

Relatable

This book really speaks to the alcoholic, and would be beneficial for those who are trying to understand the alcoholic.

Truthful portrayal of the insidiousness of alcoholism

Written in an honest narrative tone and calm demeanor, Ms Barnett walks you through the journey to hell and back with commentary from the point of view crafted with her journalism expertise. So real you can smell the puke.

Great read

I enjoyed the book her long-term alcoholism and all the struggles ups and downs that she went through were very insightful