Drunkard: A Hard-Drinking Life (edition 2009)

Well-written and wry, this memoir pulls no punches and provides more than a few laughs along the way. ( )

Having just read the author’s latest book, You Were Never in Chicago, I decided to go back to find some of his earlier work. In Chicago, he alluded to some legal difficulty he had due to his drinking … and Drunkard tells that story, chapter and verse. I figured Drunkard wouldn’t be as funny as the other I’d read – although it was lighthearted in parts – and it wasn’t.

It was, however, quite enlightening, especially for a non-drinker (actually a once-in-a-decade light drinker). The author must have kept a journal to recall in such detail what went on in his 28-day out-patient rehab and his many struggles. It’s hard for me to imagine someone in the throes of what he went through after being jailed for hitting his wife maintaining a detailed journal – but journaling must have been as ingrained a habit as drinking.

I’m certain this was a hard book to write – and a hard book to read for those who cared about him. I thought his struggles makes him a more endearing and sympathetic character. Without a lot of histrionics or manufactured drama, he tells his story in a self-deprecating and straightforward way. His transformation – tortured and zig-zag though it was – makes for a compelling read. ( )

I had a really hard time reading this book. Everything felt disjointed and fragmented. There wasn't any time flow that I could follow. To me, it was just thoughts and things that happened randomly thrown to the reader. And worse, the things thrown didn't capture my attention as they never felt complete. I applaud people telling all in the attempts to recover in their lives and in doing so helping others. However, you have to do it in a way people connect to the story, either through the reader's own experiences and relating to yours through those memories, or by making an emotional connecting with your story that does not rely on the reader's experiences. This memoir fell very short for me. ( )

This book... Neil Steinberg is an amazing writer. ( )

About: Steinberg relates his battle with alcoholism.

Pros: Well-written, raw and honest tale with a palpably somber tone throughout that shows how devastating alcoholism can be to relationships. Steinberg has a way of getting the reader to feel his frustrations and difficulties right along with him. This is not your typical feel-good recovery story.

Cons: The earnestly solemn feel of the story left me feeling drained after reading. Do not read if you want to be uplifted, as truth isn't always pretty. The epilogue, although the bright spot of the book, does little to assuage the necessarily depressed bulk of its preceding pages. ( )