Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction

by Elizabeth Vargas

Overview

Beloved former ABC 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas reveals her alcohol addiction and anxiety disorder in a shockingly honest and emotional memoir.

From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, "I am an alcoholic," to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in Between Breaths, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety—which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam—and how she dealt with this anxiety as she came of age, eventually turning to alcohol for a release from her painful reality. The now-A&E Network reporter reveals how she found herself living in denial about the extent of her addiction, and how she kept her dependency a secret for so long. She addresses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother who could never find the right balance between a career and parenting. Honest and hopeful, Between Breaths is an inspiring read. Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award in the First Book category Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455559626
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	103,790
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Vargas is the Co-anchor of 20/20 on ABC News. She resides in Manhattan with her two children.

Editorial Reviews

"Read this book. If you love the sunrise and you want to see courage-the kind that stumbles and falls but rises and rises again. With love of family. And work that saves. My dazzling friend and colleague, Elizabeth Vargas, has stared straight into the lethal heart of addiction with the eye of a fearless journalist. She has written a book for us all about truth, bravery, and the hope that a new day brings."—Diane Sawyer

"What my colleague Elizabeth has produced is not only a compelling read but also an act of true courage. This book is going to help a lot of people."—Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier

"This gripping memoir of addiction takes readers from the highs of Vargas's successful news career to the low of alcoholism, and through the grace of recovery."—Publisher's Weekly

"Ever the clear-eyed reporter, ABC television journalist Elizabeth Vargas honestly investigates her own psyche in this candid examination of the crippling anxiety and alcoholism she hid from the world for years."—BookPage

From the Publisher

09/19/2016
In her eye-opening memoir, World News Tonight and 20/20 coanchor Vargas chronicles a difficult and inspiring life hidden not only from the public, but from her family and friends. Vargas was an anxious child; when her father, a U.S. Army captain, was sent to Vietnam, the family moved to Okinawa. In the ensuing years Vargas lived in 14 homes, on nine army bases, and attended eight schools. Ashamed of her nervousness, she kept her unease to herself, but in spite of it she blossomed in high school, later enrolling in the journalism program at the University of Missouri and eventually climbing the ladder to a spot at NBC, moving to ABC in 1996. When she was anxious, Vargas used alcohol to calm herself, becoming a "highly functional addict," managing to keep her composure on the job whether interviewing the president of the U.S., covering the war in Iraq, or traveling to Cambodia for a story on baby trafficking. She married a Grammy Award–winning singer, had two sons, and appeared to have it all. As her story develops, Vargas describes her weeks in rehab, her relapses, a frightening experience with lethal blood-alcohol content, and the transformative moment when she realizes the importance of asking for help. This gripping memoir of addiction takes readers from the highs of Vargas's successful news career to the lows of alcoholism, and through the grace of recovery. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Popular 20/20 coanchor Vargas grew up burdened by anxiety, which she first experienced at age six when her father was serving in Vietnam; by adulthood she found her only relief in alcohol. Here she addresses her panic attacks, her alcohol addiction, and the eventual conquest of her demons, even as she faces the ongoing struggle of being a working mother. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

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