Try free for 30 days

  • Hooked

  • Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery
  • By: Paul Merson
  • Narrated by: George Greenland
  • Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Hooked cover art

Hooked

By: Paul Merson
Narrated by: George Greenland
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Shortlisted for the 2022 Sports Book Awards 

Paul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.

For 21 years, Paul Merson played professional football. He won two First Division titles with Arsenal and was one of the finest players of his generation. 

But for 30 years, Paul Merson has also been an addict. Alcohol, drugs, gambling: a desperately unenviable cocktail of addictions and depression which has plagued his entire adult life and driven him to the verge of suicide. 'I've come to realise that I'm powerless over alcohol...I'm an alcoholic. My drinking and gambling have left a lot of wreckage.'  

Until recently, the drinking and gambling were still raging. 'I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't go on anymore. I just couldn't see a way out.' Then something clicked. 'One day, I was walking home from the pub late on a Sunday evening, and I thought to myself: I've had enough of feeling like this, every day of my life. I rang up Alcoholics Anonymous the next day, and since then I haven't had a drink.'

Hooked is Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction, searingly charting his journey over three decades. It is absolutely unflinching in detailing his emotional and psychological troughs and in raking over the painful embers of an adult life blighted by such debilitating issues. Hooked will kick-start a crucial national conversation about addiction, depression and the damage they wreak. 

'Addiction is the loneliest of places. You're a slave to insecurity and ego. But it has to be you that wants things to change. Never be afraid to talk: the more you talk about the addictions, the more it takes the power out of them. You're never alone.'

©2021 Paul Merson (P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic Reviews

"Brave...visceral...a brilliant, brilliant read.... I would recommend this book to everyone." (Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5 Live)

"So honest...everybody should read Hooked to understand what anybody in this situation has been through." (Susanna Reid, Good Morning Britain

"A fantastic book...a remarkable read." (Richard Madeley, Good Morning Britain

"Brave, poignant and very moving. This book will change lives." (Jamie Redknapp) 

"A courageous, emotional and vitally important book." (Jeff Stelling)  

More from the same

What listeners say about Hooked

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting

Understanding of the illness and what addiction can do to anyone
Great information given

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

Throughly enjoyed this book. I was actually after another book about a soccer player struggling with addiction & thought I’d give this book a go instead. So glad I did. Truly inspiring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

thankyou for your story

Appreciate you sharing
mate, has hit home and thoroughly enjoyed the listen. Anyone facing addiction can relate

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An honest account

A tale of true honesty and, at times, brutal regret. One of my personal sporting heroes lays his lifetime of addiction before us. Very well read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it.

very honest and insightful. I have a new admiration for Paul Merson. completely exposed himself in this book and gave me a better understanding of how horrible addiction must be and trying to battle ones demons on a daily basis.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting but too much footy

The book offered a great perspective on addiction generally but there was more soccer talk than I anticipated. If you love your sports then would be a must listen for you

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Open, brutally unflinching.

The notion of giving a person respect when fighting illness/addictions is often mocked. We all know that those mocking have their own agendas and/or issues so it’s a deflection for them.
This account of Paul’s experience, told in the first person should count up there with many other stories which have been shared. By sharing Paul is paying his experience forward with among many others gives an insight for others to learn from and hopefully help.
I hear and see many people each year in the emergency hospital setting who have either come forward or due to risk have been brought in against their will. After 25 years of being an acute mental health clinician there is no limit to the need for experiences to be told. I am enamoured to write ‘Respect to you Paul’.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.