Drunk at the State Department: A Memoir

Mad Men meets the Foreign Service in this candid depiction of the hidden worlds of a high-functioning alcoholic.

From the main line of Philadelphia to the summer scene in Bar Harbor ME, William Newlin grew up surrounded by adults who made the cocktail hour seem glamorous. At boarding school and Harvard, and at his first diplomatic posting in Paris, Newlin seemed to lead a charmed life – except for a habit of secret drinking that grew from year to year.

The deception continued through many ass...