Parched [NOOK Book]

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Overview

This powerful memoir chronicles how the author became her drinking self, spending over 20 years in a cycle of drinking and self-loathing. From highly functioning alcoholic to living in dive bars, King's painful and poignant story tells how she evolved, stopped, and changed her life.
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More About This Book

Overview

This powerful memoir chronicles how the author became her drinking self, spending over 20 years in a cycle of drinking and self-loathing. From highly functioning alcoholic to living in dive bars, King's painful and poignant story tells how she evolved, stopped, and changed her life.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Following a series of memoirs detailing struggles with alcoholism (Smashed; Dry), NPR commentator King chronicles her 20 years as an alcoholic before her family's intervention led to sobriety. Written with a New Englander's wry sense of humor, King recounts her childhood in a small New Hampshire town with her six siblings and her parents' struggle to support the family. Entering her teenage years during the '60s, King experimented with drugs and alcohol, slowly coming to crave "that warm, comforting glow." After seven years in college, King moved to Boston, where her alcoholism gained momentum in the city's many bars, and despite her dream to write she moved from one waitressing job to another, surprisingly getting her law degree while in a state of perpetual inebriation. King's tales from her Boston rooming house detail such wonders as the communal bathroom ("walls were splotched with blood") and the residents ("drunks, drug addicts, paranoid schizophrenics... [they] were a colorful lot"). The Bible verses that begin each chapter give an uneasy sense of impending proselytism, but not until the epilogue do readers discover King's Catholic faith. While entertaining and witty, this memoir offers no new revelations about an alcoholic's life and will mainly interest those sharing King's Northeast roots. Agent, Laurie Liss. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781101157442
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 9/5/2006
  • Sold by: Penguin Group
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 304
  • Sales rank: 139,486
  • File size: 348 KB
  • Items ship to U.S, APO/FPO and U.S. Protectorate addresses.

Meet the Author

Heather King is a writer and a lawyer. Her essays have been widely published and she received a "Notable Essay" citation in Best American Essays 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 3.5
( 10 )

Rating Distribution

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 27, 2006

    How did Oprah miss this one?

    Not only does this bring to light the gnawing subtleties of addiction, but it's a literary accomplishment. This is a memoir that offers a true portrayal of an alcoholic's life, but there's hope at the other end. Hope comes with a price and that means getting honest with oneself ... which is exactly what this author does!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 6, 2011

    blah blah blah

    Tough to sympathize with a woman who seemingly wanted for nothing: a nice childhood, intelligence, supportive family, great education, multiple trips abroad (Paris, etc.), right down to her family-financed rehab stint. Better title? "Spoiled: The Tale of An Alcoholic who Drank for No Real Good Reason"

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  • Posted April 20, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Excellent reading

    I don't normally read non fiction but this book was well worth it. The writing style flowed well. The subject matter though serious reflects in a non-preachy way and makes you think about choices you may have made. I will be looking for other titles by this author.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 12, 2008

    Disappointing..........

    I picked up this book based on the great reviews, and it left me disappointed. I felt that King kept repeating the same lines over and over again. The book never picked up , it seemed to drag. While her experiences may no doubt be memorable, her writing is not. Don't waste your time reading this one.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 12, 2011

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    Posted January 11, 2011

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    Posted January 8, 2009

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    Posted September 17, 2009

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    Posted November 12, 2009

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    Posted January 24, 2010

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    Posted March 13, 2009

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