Drinking Games: A Memoir

by Sarah Levy

Overview

Named Most Anticipated by: Good Morning America ・ New York ​Post​・Pure Wow ・BuzzFeed ・ ​Los Angeles Times ・ Book Riot・ ​Apple Books

Part memoir and part social critique, Drinking Games is about how one woman drank and lived— and how, for her, the last drink was just the beginning.

On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job, and socializing every weekend. But Sarah had a secret: her relationship with alcohol was becoming toxic. And only she could save herself.

Drinking Games explores the role alcohol has in our formative years, and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking. It’s an examination of what our short-term choices about alcohol do to our long-term selves and how they challenge our ability to be vulnerable enough to discover what we really want in life.

Candid and dynamic, this book speaks to the all-consuming cycle of working hard, playing harder, and trying to look perfect while you’re at it. Sarah takes us by the hand through her personal journey with blackouts, dating, relationships, wellness culture, startups, social media, friendship, and self-discovery.

In this intimate and darkly funny memoir, she stumbles through her twenties, explores the impact alcohol has on relationships and identity, and shows us how life’s messiest moments can end up being the most profound.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250280589
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,050,828
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Sarah Levy is a writer based in Los Angeles by way of New York. Her work examines the intersection of sobriety, relationships, and identity and has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine/The Cut, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Vogue, Elle, and other publications. She holds a B.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University and pursued a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The New School. Drinking Games is her first book.

Table of Contents

Author's Note: About This Book xi

Introduction: This is Normal, Right? xiii

Part I Wasted

1 What I Mean When I Say I'm a Blackout Drinker 3

2 A Love Letter to Vodka 18

3 The One About Friendship 25

4 Bachelor Nation and the Myth of Moderation 44

Part II Hungover

5 How I Was influenced by an Influencer 67

6 The Pursuit of Wellness 81

7 Seduced by Startup Culture 96

8 Flirtini 119

Part III Sober

9 Alcoholism Needs a Makeover 137

10 Dressing the Part 151

11 'Tis the Season to Be Drunk 165

12 On Mothers and Daughters 180

Part IV Free

13 POV: You Have a POV 195

14 My Social Media Archives 209

15 Wedding Planning and Champagne Problems 223

16 I Manifested This Book 240

Conclusion: What Comes Next 258

Acknowledgments 261

Editorial Reviews

10/17/2022

“At twenty-eight, I looked like I had it all together,” Levy writes about her destructive relationship with alcohol in her bracing debut. A 16-year-old Levy experienced her first blackout at a house party in suburban New Jersey, which she recalls as “shameful” but also “a bit thrilling.” After a newly single Levy moved to New York City at 22, alcohol was a fixture in her life (“I came to view vodka as an extension of my new personality”), and though the frequency of Levy’s blackouts increased, she didn’t think she had a “real” problem until the nearly 30-year-old author woke up in bed next to her boss’s best friend with no memory of how she’d gotten there. The author’s insightful account of her path to sobriety takes in the full sweep of her experience, from discovering in recovery meetings a sense of community that wasn’t contingent on her job title, to concluding that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with addiction: “Twelve-step programs are not the only way to get sober.” Though the narrative can be repetitive, it nevertheless offers equal measures of introspection and hope: “Every day I wake up is an opportunity to start again.” This emotional excavation will inspire anyone navigating addiction. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2022

Levy, a high achiever, wanted to smother out her anxiety and body image issues, so she relied on alcohol as both confidence booster and coping mechanism—until she hit a crisis point. Her account of her drinking and its resulting blackouts, destruction of friendships, and consumption of her life is honest and smart. It stands out in the genre of sobriety memoirs. Its collected-essay structure results in some repetition and vagueness of time, and Levy doesn't dwell much on the challenges of remaining sober, choosing instead to focus on the positives that sobriety has brought to her life. But people who find solace in these narratives or seek a reflection of their experiences will appreciate the bravery, humor, and grace with which the author writes about one of the darkest parts of her life. There's a particular effectiveness to her exploration of the ways drinking culture permeates the spaces in lives and interactions. VERDICT A good choice for those seeking personal narratives of experiences of alcoholism in the 21st century; readers who appreciate stand-alone chapters instead of a more linear narrative will likely find it especially effective.—Kathleen McCallister

Library Journal

2022-08-30
A debut memoir about the author’s struggles with alcohol and journey toward sobriety.

When Levy was a junior in high school, she attended a party where a boy she had a crush on nonchalantly asked her, in front of a large group of her classmates, for oral sex. Devastated by the humiliation, she drank heavily and, for the first time in her life, blacked out. Although this pattern of excessive drinking continued throughout her 20s and resulted in the dissolution of her relationship with her best friend, Chloe—whose “uncle had run a major campaign for president of the United States” and whose “father was a high-powered diplomat in Europe”—mostly, Levy was able to maintain a functional, successful life, scaling the corporate ladder. After “a year sober” and having “just exited another startup with a work hard, play hard culture,” she earned the position of vice president of marketing at a “New York wellness brand,” and she lived in a series of nice neighborhoods like Gramercy and the Upper East Side. However, the author’s achievements masked her addiction, which continued to plague her. “I realized it didn’t matter if my drinking problem qualified as ‘real.’ I needed to stop, and it was clear, through years of trial and error, that I couldn’t do it myself,” she writes. “So, I did what once seemed impossible: I walked into a twelve-step recovery meeting.” At its best, the text reads like an intimate conversation between friends; the sections about Levy’s mother's struggle with breast cancer are particularly poignant. Too often, however, the author gives an overview of a thought process rather than actual information about her experience. For example, although she references an eating disorder, she doesn’t effectively show readers her struggle with food. By no means does Levy owe readers specific information about traumatic experiences or life patterns, but her emphasis on telling rather than showing feels misaligned with the vulnerability that she claims underpins the narrative.

An earnest examination of alcohol and sobriety that could have gone deeper.

Kirkus Reviews

"Bracing and insightful...offers equal measures of introspection and hope. This emotional excavation will inspire anyone navigating addiction."
––Publishers Weekly

“Candid, straightforward, and full of introspection. Levy successfully articulates the emotional roller coaster of being drunk and being sober through important life moments and shows her readers how fulfilling a sober life can be.”
––Booklist

"Poignant. [DRINKING GAMES] reads like an intimate conversation between friends."
––Kirkus

"With raw honesty...Levy's path to sobriety becomes a lens through which she reflects on drinking culture and what it means to be sober within that...in her vulnerability and willingness to share the highs and lows of her relationship with alcohol, Levy invites readers to consider what might not be serving them in this moment—and what might be possible on the other side of whatever habit is holding them back from true freedom."
––Shelf Awareness

"Stands out in the genre of sobriety memoirs...people who find solace in these narratives or seek a reflection of their experiences will appreciate the bravery, humor, and grace with which the author writes about one of the darkest parts of her life. There’s a particular effectiveness to her exploration of the ways drinking culture permeates the spaces in lives and interactions."
––Library Journal

“Part memoir, part social critique, this book takes a look at the role drinking plays in our culture — and how opting out requires honest self-reflection and vulnerability.”
––New York Post

"Candid and darkly funny"
––PureWow

"Messy and candid, this memoir is dedicated to those who think sobriety is an ending when it's actually a beginning."
––BuzzFeed

"A modern look at what getting sober as a millennial living in NYC really looks like."
––TheSkimm

"With candor and curiosity, [Levy] looks at a substance we all know - some of us all too well - to uncover the truth about sobriety and its advantages."
––Los Angeles Times

“A surprisingly fresh look at this topic, and one that I think will resonate with a lot of people.”
––BookRiot

"Sarah Levy's Drinking Games is more than one woman's captivating story of letting go of a destructive relationship to alcohol. This up close look at Levy's life before, during, and after her decision to stop drinking alcohol offers readers a glimpse at all of the ways a life can transform once sobriety is in place. By turns hilarious and harrowing, Levy generously shows readers how she left behind a party girl lifestyle filled with hollow relationships and unfulfilling work and built a sober life filled with comfort, care, and deep, authentic attachments to herself and others. For anyone who fears that sobriety equals stagnation, boredom, and a stunted life shuffling from one dank basement recovery meeting to the next, prepare to have your mind blown. Levy's Drinking Games is a must-read for anyone curious about the many ways in which sobriety can transform a life."
––Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group

"Thought-provoking and fantastic. Drinking Games explores both the vulnerable emotional core of one woman's relationship with alcohol and how empowering it is to walk away. A terrific read!”
––Cat Marnell, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life

“Like Sarah Levy, by giving up the battle with booze, I have found a new world of self-respect and grace. I know that Levy’s wise and honest memoir, Drinking Games, will connect with readers who are asking themselves if their life might be a bit brighter and truer without alcohol. May we all find what Levy (and I) was searching for in every cocktail: ‘the deepest, purest, and most genuine belief that everything was going to be okay.’”
––Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters and The Sober Lush

"Sarah Levy gives sobriety a makeover in Drinking Games. With the warmth, wit, and wisdom of the venerable friend we all desperately wanted, Sarah draws you into how alcohol defined her relationships with body image, the wellness industry, and her family, and the clarity she gained when she found sobriety. Drinking Games packs a punch: not the gross alcoholic kind but the kind that leaves you feeling breathless. This book should be required reading for every scared person wondering, should I stop now? From hangovers, to blackouts, to the joys of new beginnings, Sarah gives vulnerable and concrete advice for anyone worried that sobriety means an end to all things fun. Spoiler alert: it’s not."
––Erin Lee Carr, author of All That You Leave Behind

From the Publisher

06/10/2024

In this emotional and frank debut memoir, Levy shares the struggles that led her to a reckoning with her relationship with alcohol. She openly discusses blackout nights, waking up without knowing where she was or how she got there, using alcohol to cope with social obligations, and eventually how the decision to find sobriety came about. Levy mentions how she never felt like she had a rock bottom, and her memoir avoids going to the extremely dark places that some recovery books can. What makes this book unique is that it illustrates the struggle of young women who have grown up completely embedded in the world of social media. Levy befriends influencers, works at start-ups, and "curates her feed" by archiving posts that no longer serve purpose to her life or career. This curation puts pressure on (mostly) women to have the perfect persona. An underlying current to Levy's journey to sobriety is how stressful living a life online can be. The author narrates the book with a sincerity that only someone who has lived this experience can bring. VERDICT A deeply personal, highly relevant memoir that details the challenges and hard-won success of a woman who has chosen sobriety.—Katy Hite

Library Journal - Audio