Sane "Drinking"

Published at the height of the confessional memoir craze (1996), "Drinking: A Love Story" by Caroline Knapp traces her ascent to heavy drinking and descent into alcoholism. (I'm nine years late because I just bought it for $1 (hard cover) at a library sale.) Knapp characterizes alcohol as a lover, a destructive and obsessive relationship. I've read a lot of these "see how really bad I was" books (I'm thinking of Elizabeth Wurtzel, Kathryn Harrison, and any other writer who couldn't get their fictional works read), and "Drinking" has some sanity and dignity to it. She doesn't blame anyone and takes full responsibility for her actions. You can see perfectly how she fell into the hole she did. Although the book can get a little too academic with facts and figures about alcoholism & A.A., overall, it was a gripping read.