My Fair Junkie cover art

My Fair Junkie

A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean

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My Fair Junkie

By: Amy Dresner
Narrated by: Amy Dresner
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About this listen

 In the tradition of Blackout and Permanent Midnight, a darkly funny and revealing debut memoir of one woman's twenty-year battle with sex, drugs, and alcohol addiction, and what happens when she finally emerges on the other side.

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Amy Dresner had it all: a top-notch private school education, the most expensive summer camps, and even a weekly clothing allowance. But at 24, she started dabbling in meth in San Francisco and unleashed a fiendish addiction monster. Soon, if you could snort it, smoke it, or have sex with, she did.

Smart and charming, with Daddy's money to fall back on, she sort of managed to keep it all together. But on Christmas Eve 2011 all of that changed when, high on Oxycontin, she stupidly "brandished" a bread knife on her husband and was promptly arrested for "felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon."

Within months, she found herself in the psych ward--and then penniless, divorced, and looking at 240 hours of court-ordered community service. For two years, assigned to a Hollywood Boulevard "chain gang," she swept up syringes (and worse) as she bounced from rehabs to halfway houses, all while struggling with sobriety, sex addiction, and starting over in her forties.

In the tradition of Orange Is the New Black and Jerry Stahl's Permanent Midnight, Amy Dresner's My Fair Junkie is an insightful, darkly funny, and shamelessly honest memoir of one woman's battle with all forms of addiction, hitting rock bottom, and forging a path to a life worth living. Addiction & Recovery Alcoholism Mental Health Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Memoir Substance abuse Health Funny Witty Tradition Addiction Memoirs

Critic Reviews

"Like Carrie Fisher's 1987 autobiographical novel, Postcards From the Edge, and Mary Karr's 2009 memoir, Lit, Amy Dresner's story of addiction and recovery, My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Stay Clean (Hachette Books), is one for the ages."—Elle
One of BookAuthority's Best Memoir Books of All Time

"Dresner's book is a sickening masterpiece. Hilarious and raw, she cuts to bony truth. I love her!"—Margaret Cho
"Darkly funny, the memoir reckons with demons--sex addiction, drugs, and the quest for sobriety--in brutally honest, entertaining prose."—Refinery29
"Dresner delivered a debut memoir equal parts hilarious and chilling. My Fair Junkie is a must-read story."—POPSUGAR
"Mortifying, hilarious, unsparing, and weirdly life-affirming, My Fair Junkie hits the ground screaming and never lets up. As with all great 'drug memoirs,' the subject of this raw, squirm-fest of an autobiography is not drugs, but what made drugs necessary: the twisted history and relatably depraved torments of the author's own strung-out heart. For fans of Beyond Shame, low-bottom recollectors like Augusten Burroughs and Stephen Elliot, Amy Dresner has earned her spot on the shelf."—Jerry Stahl,author of Permanent Midnight
"Funny, raw, real, and moving. Amy's memoir digs deep inside the world of addiction and takes you on a ride you'd pay to go on again. Amy, like addiction, is a complicated beast that needs to be unraveled and exposed to understand--and she does just that in My Fair Junkie, an incredible read."—Amber Tozer, authorof Sober Stick Figure
"I loved this book! Amy Dresner is the real deal; a fiercely funny writer whose insights into addiction and recovery--and life--are full of truth, free of self-pity, sometimes scathing, often poignant, irresistibly page-turning, and painfully hilarious."—Stephen Guirgis,Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
"The story she tells is hysterically funny at one moment and utterly harrowing the next--and often manages to be both those things at once."—Lawrence Block, NewYork Times bestselling and award-winning crime novelist, journalist, andauthor of the short story collection Enough Rope
"Hypnotic, magical, mesmerizing. Truly great. Amy Dresner is the most startlingly alert, poetic, stunning writer I have come across in decades. She is a real talent such as one rarely encounters."—Ben Stein, lawyer,economist, actor, and author of How to Ruin Your Financial Life
All stars
Most relevant
This book is a precious gem. It is read by author - Amy is hilarious and insightful, honest and intelligent.
I recommend to anyone who is in need of a dose of hope and humour.

A precious gem

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Fabulous listen!
What an epic story to tell.
Amy’s voice, which makes the listening worthwhile btw, along with her humour and honesty had me all ears till the very end!

Fabulous!

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I could not stop listening! Highly recommend for all . I even listened a second time I loved it so much.

Absolutely amazing listen! Funny, witty and inspiring!

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This was such an honest, raw and funny look at what it's like to be an addict. I loved it. Thank you Amy for sharing, you're a star.

Brutally honest book

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Amy brings humour to serious topic. Her honesty is a breath of fresh air she is not scared to open up her darkest moments. I am sure this book will help many in addiction.

Honest and Funny

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Amazing, gritty, heartbreaking and made me laugh out loud on occasion. Author reads beautifully and very humorous despite the serious subject matter

Amazing and gritty

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Enjoyed this book! Amy tells her story well with raw honesty and humour.
It’s a serious subject but told in a way that gives a great insight in how an addiction affects the mind of a junkie

Honest with humour

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Inside her head, it's an absolute mess. Rage, love, need and impulse. And it keeps going, and going.

I've encountered and lived with three Junkies in my life. I tried to help, lost cars, money, time and faith in people and family. I never made a difference, and they always needed more. Why? Why did it go like this? What could I have done?

This book finally satisfied my need for resolution.

They dont follow our way of thinking. The unspoken rules of conversation and expectation dont exist. They exist in the moment, and all planning is meaningless.

It's up to them to find their rite of passage and learn to help themselves. Then join the rest of us as adults.

This is an amazing, and heartbreaking book I needed to hear.

Helped me understand a junkie's mind.

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Amy has an extraordinary story to tell, and tells it extremely well. I’m thrilled I got to hear it told by her. Highly recommend this memoir of a life that danced the edges, and proves that we should never give up on addicts. What a woman!

Spectacular & Sobering

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Amy Dresner is an incredibly witty woman and hearing her journey from the lowest moment to becoming kind of okay is a treat!

What? If you’re the kind of person who needs to hear recovery ends in a triumphant moment and gets tied up with silk bow at the end —where nothing was ever imperfect again—I don’t know what to tell you other than I don’t buy that narrative, and I don’t think you should either.

That said the book it’s not all doom and gloom either, but it does honestly illustrates that people work for sobriety.
They make mistakes and they keep going until making that choice everyday is easier the longer you try and if you can’t be honest with yourself and laugh at the weird parts of life like the word “Bagina” it’s going to kill you.

Addiction is not obfuscated nor glamourised.
There is no miraculous moment where someone swoops in and saves her. You see her slow morph from someone struggling getting clean for one day to her 3 years sober anniversary. She learns to be more comfortable with who she is, what she’s been and she they could be.

Amy Dresner takes you to hell and back and you will LOVE it!

(And in a sexy voice to boot)

Finally a book about sobriety that doesn’t make you want to chug a bottle

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