10 Books About Addiction
10 Books About Addiction
Table of Contents
You can find inspiration almost anywhere. But sometimes, the best place is from people who have already overcome the challenges that lay ahead. With that in mind, we’ve compiled ten books about addiction that hopefully give you the insight to face whatever comes next.
A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
James Frey is an American born Ohio writer. He achieved critical and commercial fame with his 2003 novel, A Million Little Pieces. Frey experienced substance use in his late teen and adult years but has since become sober and has written several best-selling works.
Synopsis of the Book
A Million Little Pieces details Frey’s journey into recovery and the people he meets along the way. When Frey wakes up on an airplane that he has no memory of boarding, it sets off a chain of events that chronicles his struggles and thoughts with addiction. The novel is full of inspirational, albeit embellished, stories. Its stark, first-person take on drug dependence and how it affects those around serves make it an engaging read.
True Story or Fiction?
Frey faced controversy in 2006 when large parts of the novel were found entirely false or heavily embellished. While Frey has gone on to defend the book, independent fact-checkers and the pub-lishers have proven large chunks as fake. However, Frey did suffer from addiction, experienced run-ins with the law and other gritty events. The gist of the story is true, but it uses a broad brush to paint the details.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
A Million Little Pieces covers one character’s journey from addiction to recovery in al-most painstaking detail. This semi-fictional tale offers a raw glimpse into what it means to be drug dependent.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir, Lisa Smith
Lisa Smith is a New York-based writer and former corporate lawyer. She’s the author of Girl Walks Out of a Bar, a memoir on beating alcoholism. She’s a former self-described high functioning alcoholic, recovery advocate, and public speaker.
Synopsis of the Book
Girl Walks Out of a Bar is the story of Lisa Smith’s time as a high functioning alcoholic and casual cocaine user. Smith worked as a corporate lawyer and talked extensively about the working hard and playing hard culture permeating the law firm. She takes her heady days and places them directly under the spotlight for review. Girl Walks Out of a Bar is a light-hearted but true-to-self memoir on how addiction affects the white-collar worker.
True Story or Fiction?
Girl Walks Out of a Bar is an entirely accurate recollection of some of the most troubling days in the life of an alcoholic. It’s clear that Smith was and is still able to recognize her issues with alcoholism and isn’t afraid to call them out.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Girl Walks Out of a Bar breaks the public perception of how alcoholism looks. Gone are the ideas that addiction means being dirty, chaotic, impoverished, etc. Instead, we see someone who maintains a fast-paced, well-paying career while nursing a powerful addiction on the side.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Girl Walks Out of a Bar has a happy ending of finding recovery from alcoholism.
Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, Kristen Johnston
Kristen Johnston is an American actress and author, most famous for her role as Sally Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun. Johnston abused alcohol and prescription drugs for decades, beginning as a teenager.
Synopsis of the Book
Guts is a biographical novel on Johnston’s former drug dependency. It covers parts of her acting career as it pertains to her alcoholism. The book is written in a witty and upbeat tone. Johnston can seamlessly balance the severity and shame of her alcoholism with lighter segments and deliciously devious descriptions.
True Story or Fiction?
Guts is a remarkable true story about Johnston’s internal battle with alcoholism and how she manages to stay ahead of it.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Johnston’s novel celebrates recovery but doesn’t shy away from some of the darker aspects of addiction. The book is equal parts self-reflection and refreshing witticisms that serve the overall theme of getting out of your own way.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Guts‘ positive ending is made even better by knowing that the author is still practicing sobriety. It’s a quick read that never stops moving.
32 Candles, Ernessa T. Carter
Ernessa Carter is a former radio journalist who, before becoming a writer, worked many odd jobs. Currently based in L.A., Carter graduated from Smith College and Carnegie Mellon.
Synopsis of the Book
32 Candles tells the story of Davie Jones, a small-town teenager who falls in love. But after a horrific prank, she leaves behind everything she’s ever known for greener pastures. Many years later, the past comes back to haunt her in the form of her old lover. But when the reconciliation goes well, it’s a sure sign that something bigger is looming on the horizon. 32 Candles is written in a sarcastic yet genuine tone that appeals to readers of romantic comedies. It’s inspired by John Hughes movies (16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, etc.)
True Story or Fiction?
32 Candles is a fiction novel with a sprawling cast of engaging characters.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
32 Candles is at its core about leaving the past behind. Personal and spiritual growth is paramount to recovery, and 32 Candles is a prime example of that. This novel is as drug-laden as other entries on this list but is more fictional. If you’re looking for a story of empowerment and self-worth, then look no further.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Without spoiling too much, the ending of 32 Candles is mostly open to reader interpreta-tion. However, the book is an overall positive story and a pleasant read.
Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction, Elizabeth Vargas
Elizabeth Vargas is a former news anchor and recovering alcoholic. She published her best-selling memoir Between Breaths in 2016. Vargas also suffers from severe anxiety.
Synopsis of the Book
Between Breaths is the story of Vargas’ meteoric rise in newscasting while battling alco-holism and anxiety related to childhood trauma. The book is written in a conversational tone with an emphasis on inner thought. It culminates after a 2012 vacation in which her addiction and anxiety got the best of her. The book goes on to detail her recovery process.
True Story or Fiction?
Between Breaths is the real story Elizabeth Vargas. Vargas spares no detail as she talks about how she was told to mask her anxiety for fear of being perceived as weak. Or how her anx-iety started after her father returned from Vietnam with PTSD.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Between Breaths is solely about her addiction, anxiety, and the cause of her childhood trauma.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Between Breathes has a positive ending that touches on what it takes to maintain and manage sobriety and anxiety in the long-run.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Thomas DeQuincy
Thomas DeQuincy, 1785-1859, was an English born writer and is considered the father of addiction literature in the western world. DeQuincy’s magnum opus Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.
Synopsis of the Book
Confessions chronicles DeQuincy’s time with an opium addiction, how it affected his life and his thoughts on the drug. However, DeQuincy does romanticize opium use. Even when dis-cussing negative consequences from opium, he does so in a manner that suggests a certain longing for the drug.
True Story or Fiction?
Although written in 1821, Confessions is considered entirely accurate. DeQuincy himself was known to use opium at the time. And he came from a fractured home, experienced severe poverty and fits of depression. All or any of which can lead to drug use.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Confessions is more about experiencing drugs; then it is recovery. However, it goes into great detail about how addiction can affect those around someone with drug dependency.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Confessions offers no insight into overcoming addiction in the long-term and seems to be uninterested or unable to answer specific questions regarding addiction. Because of this, and the general romanticizing of opium, the ending is considered negative.
Drinking: A Love Story, Caroline Knapp
Caroline Knapp (1959-2002) was an American born writer who reached the bestseller list with her 1997 novel, Drinking: A Love Story. She graduated from Brown University and worked as a columnist before the book.
Synopsis of the Book
Drinking: A Love Story focuses on Knapp’s time as a high functioning alcoholic. Knapp reveals she began drinking as a teenager as a way of coping with various forms of anxiety. She documents her descent into full-blown alcoholism. Drinking is written in a heart-felt tone with beautifully descriptive wording that draws the reader into Knapp’s battle with alcoholism and subsequent recovery.
True Story or Fiction?
Drinking is a factual autobiographical story about Knapp’s two decades as an alcoholic. It also deals heavily with the effects of her anxiety in a true-to-life way.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Severe anxiety influenced Knapp’s voyage into addiction. In that regard, the memoir spares no expense in detailing how mood disorders lead to addiction and the importance of self-care.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Knapp’s memoir has a mostly positive ending that shows her recovery steps and the support she received from family and friends.
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, David Sheff
David Sheff is an American born writer and journalist. He worked for several high-profile publications before releasing his best-selling novel Beautiful Boy: a Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction.
Synopsis of the Book
Beautiful Boy is about David Sheff’s experience as a parent of someone with an addiction. The novel is written from the knowledge that addiction is a disease and offers tips and in-sights into how parents can help their children recover.
True Story or Fiction?
Beautiful Boy is an entirely true piece of literature.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Beautiful Boy explains how one person’s substance abuse can fracture a family. Sheff illuminates the psychological state of a parent with a child dealing with substance abuse and how drastically addiction can change personality.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Beautiful Boy has a tear-jerking and happy ending.
Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese
Richard Wagamese (1955-2017) was a Canadian born writer of Indian heritage. His best-known work, Indian Horse, brought him critical acclaim. He worked as a newspaper writer for most of his life.
Synopsis of the Book
Indian Horse brings the reader into Wagamese’s childhood and drug-abusing years. The story more or less begins when Wagamese is adopted into a foster home that attempts to subdue his Indian heritage through abuse. These practices lead Wagamese into running away from home, experimenting with drugs and alcohol, and eventually finding sobriety and cultural identity.
True Story or Fiction?
Indian Horses is a true story of self-realization, overcoming, and finding happiness.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
They say most addictions are caused by trauma and mood disorders. Wagamese gives proof to this with his harrowing tales of the scars that his childhood left behind. This book will appeal to those who’ve gone through the journey of self-discovery.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Indian Horses has a positive ending that proves the battle with addiction can be won.
Postcards from the Edge, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher (1956-2016) was an American actress and author best known for her role in the original Star Wars trilogy. She spoke openly throughout her career about her battles with addiction and bipolar disorder.
Synopsis of the Book
Postcards from the Edge tells Suzanne Vale’s story, a movie actress battling addiction. It takes a frank and candid look into the habits of those with addiction. Post Cards is written in a self-reflecting first-person and third-person perspective. It chronicles the anxiety, therapeutic recovery, and general self-destructive behavior of the main character.
True Story or Fiction?
Postcards employs a semi-autobiographic narrative to tell Suzanne Vale’s story while allowing the truths of Fisher’s life to shine through.
How is it About Addiction and Recovery?
Postcards is centered around addiction and the road to recovery.
Negative or Positive Ending?
Through subtle character growth, steady pacing, and an overall uptick in the main character’s life, Postcards manages to eke out a positive ending amidst the chaos of drug addictions.
Hopefully, you’ve found your next inspiring story. Addiction doesn’t have to be the end, no matter how it feels. Recovery might be a page away.
