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Quitter

A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery

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Quitter

By: Erica C. Barnett
Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass
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About this listen

"Barnett's prose style is brassy and cleareyed, with echoes of Anne Lamott." --Beth Macy, The New York Times Book Review

"Emotionally devastating and self-aware, this cautionary tale about substance abuse is a worthy heir to Cat Marnell's How to Murder Your Life." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A startlingly frank memoir of one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment

Erica C. Barnett had her first sip of alcohol when she was thirteen, and she quickly developed a taste for drinking to oblivion with her friends. In her late twenties, her addiction became inescapable. Volatile relationships, blackouts, and unsuccessful stints in detox defined her life, with the vodka bottles she hid throughout her apartment and offices acting as both her tormentors and closest friends.

By the time she was in her late thirties, Erica Barnett had run the gauntlet of alcoholism. She had recovered and relapsed time and again, but after each new program or detox center would find herself far from rehabilitated. "Rock bottom," Barnett writes, "is a lie." It is always possible, she learned, to go lower than your lowest point. She found that the terms other alcoholics used to describe the trajectory of their addiction--"rock bottom" and "moment of clarity"--and the mottos touted by Alcoholics Anonymous, such as "let go and let God" and "you're only as sick as your secrets"--didn't correspond to her experience and could actually be detrimental.

With remarkably brave and vulnerable writing, Barnett expands on her personal story to confront the dire state of addiction in America, the rise of alcoholism in American women in the last century, and the lack of rehabilitation options available to addicts. At a time when opioid addiction is a national epidemic and one in twelve Americans suffers from alcohol abuse disorder, Quitter is essential reading for our age and an ultimately hopeful story of Barnett's own hard-fought path to sobriety.
Addiction & Recovery Alcoholism Indigenous Creators Mental Health Mental Health Awareness Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Women Health Memoir Substance abuse Nonfiction Addiction Memoirs
All stars
Most relevant
Listened to it twice. Very captivating and relatable. The narration was well done too. I recommend it 🙂

Love this Memoir

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A fantastically written and searingly honest story. It is almost painful to hear how she fails and sinks again and again. Also don't expect to fall in love with the author. Her fellow inpatients at detox centre described her as a problematical narcissistic feminist. They nailed it. Still, great book.

Brutally honest story

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Erica story is absolutely amazing incredible to hear really well written and just a marvellous reminder of the Depths that alcoholism
can take us

Brilliant

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I am trying to stay sober and am finding 'quit lit' is sometimes inspiring and provides motivation. I often google 'quit lit for women' or 'powerful addiction memoirs'. 'Quitter' NEVER comes up, But it 100% should. It is brilliant; wonderfully written by a talented, funny, brutally honest woman. This was listed on the Amazon 'recommended for you' due to my reading . It is much better than many of the other quit lit books I have read. It is never preachy, or self indulgent. It is raw, frank and almost painful to (in my case), listen to. I gasped out loud sometimes. You end up loving her. And rallying for her to 'beat it'. This and 'Girl Walks Out of A Bar' are my favourite 'quit lit' books.

Brilliant

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