Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol - Softcover

Johnston, Ann Dowsett

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007503563 ISBN 13: 9780007503568

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2013

Synopsis

The new face of risky drinking is female. The problem: a global epidemic of bingeing. The solution: a brave new approach to female recovery.

Eight years ago, Ann Dowsett Johnston was an award-winning journalist and vice-principal of McGill University. In private, she was wrestling the demon that had undone her own mother; the same demon increasing numbers of women are now battling across the world: alcohol.

Aware of her growing dependency, Ann began to document her experiences with drink – the rules she set, and inevitably broke. The diary told a story that was not hers alone. From the 17-year-old heart attack victim to the mother of a child with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, women have bravely shared their own journeys through addiction, creating an alarming composite of the female face of dangerous drinking.

In this startlingly honest book Ann Dowsett Johnson reveals why the relationship between women and alcohol has spiralled out of control. Showing how women can escape from this destructive affair, ‘Drink’ is essential reading for any woman who thinks she has a problem, and for those who care about her.

About this title

Review:

Ann Dowsett Johnston has won 5 Canadian National Magazine Awards. Her research for ‘The Drinking Diaries’ took her across the UK, Canada and the USA and she has written on women and alcohol extensively, particularly for the Toronto Star

‘A wallop of a book ... full of riveting candour ... Johnston brings the weight of her journalism and academic experience to build a convincing case that women are increasingly succumbing to the dark side of alcohol’ Washington Post

‘In this comprehensively researched and insightful book, Ann Dowsett Johnston chronicles her own destructive dance with alcohol, her recovery and explores disturbing trends in contemporary women’s relationship to alcohol. A crucially important book for anyone interested in women’s health and addiction issues.’ Susan Juby, author of ‘Nice Recovery’

‘“Drink” is a gift to women, to parents, and to all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism. The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.” Gabor Maté M.D., author of “In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction”

‘A game-changing look at one of our culture’s hidden problems ... honest, brave and inspirational.’ Margaret Trudeau, author of “Changing My Mind”

From the Back Cover:

One of the Washington Post's Ten Best Books of 2013

More than twenty-three thousand women die from heavy drinking in the United States each year. Incidents of binge drinking and so-called drunkorexia are on the rise, contributing to an exponential increase in the number of health conditions and cancers among women.

Combining in-depth research with her own personal story of recovery, the award-winning journalist Ann Dowsett Johnston tells of maintaining her high-powered career as a vice principal of McGill University while wrestling with the demon that defeated her own mother: alcohol addiction. After a very private exit from her professional life, Dowsett Johnston went to rehab; now sober, she has dedicated her career to examining the relationship between women and high-risk drinking.

In Drink, Dowsett Johnston dissects the psychological, social, and workplace factors that contribute to this crisis, and explores its far-reaching effect on both society at large and individual lives. Comprehensive and emotionally compelling, Drink is a brave and powerful story, beautifully told, and an important investigation into an epidemic that we can no longer afford to ignore.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0007503563
• ISBN 13: 9780007503568
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256