SMASHED

Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas. Okay, I read this because I am on a roll reading memoirs of people experiencing total chaos! I was told I should read it and I have always been a little curious about the book. I really liked it...not because it was happy or uplifting but because it talks about someones descent into a relationship with alcohol. She starts experimenting at 14 years old and by college she is drinking and blacking out and getting into all kinds of trouble. I think kids at 14 should read this, even younger. When I was that age I wasn't even thinking about alcohol, but I grew up in a house where none was ever around, my parents didn't drink, my grandparents didn't drink...when I was introduced to alcohol at 16 I said no, my friends respected me for it and I didn't really think about alcohol much again until I was in my 20s...24 to be exact. I spent two years drinking EVERY day...which looking back on it now seems odd, but I think I reached a point in my life where I couldn't deal. And...as abruptly as I started, at 26 I stopped. Okay, I still drink, but not excessively and not with the same emotions I did in my 20s. What is most inspiring about the book is that at some point she does decide that this isn't really for her and that she should stop...and how she does it. I think parents of kids should read this as well...maybe to prepare themselves for what could be...and the way that a kid can pull the wool over a parent's eyes no matter how much the parent thinks they know their kid. This book definitely brought up some demons in my past...and maybe it will for you as well. I think it is something people should read...and maybe discover that you don't have to be an alcoholic to abuse alcohol.