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Robin Hall's avatar

I have found Raymond Carver's stories and poems to be particularly meaningful for me as an alcoholic. I remember trying to read a short story while I was still active in which alcohol played a big part and I couldn't finish. But shortly after I got sober, the New Yorker published his poem "Gravy," and I carried that around in my wallet until it dissolved.

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Katie MacBride's avatar

Oh, I LOVE Raymond Carver. Also! You reminded me that I wanted to include a short story in this post, and I forgot! (You were perfectly fine by Dorothy Parker). I'm going to update the post, but if you're curious, you can find it here: https://somanybooks.org/eng208/YouWerePerfectlyFine.pdf

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Martine's avatar

They all sound great! Have a nice time of self-care. Do it with abandoned!

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Tara Y's avatar

I think I’ve mentioned The Outrun to you before. That’s my favorite movie centered on addiction and recovery.

Four Good Days is hard to watch, but I appreciated it from the perspective of considering the friends and family of those with addiction.

Wild (both the book and the movie) doesn’t bill itself as an addiction memoir per se, but the author clearly struggles with substance abuse issues linked to grief surrounding her mother’s death. I always find an excuse to bring it up since it’s my favorite memoir

I can’t say I liked it, but Leaving Las Vegas has to be the most depressing depiction of someone dealing with alcohol dependency I’ve ever watched.

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Katie MacBride's avatar

You have mentioned The Outrun and it fell out of my brain. I will add it to my list! And I totally agree about Wild. Not only is it just a great book, it definitely shares some themes with addiction recovery.

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Sy's avatar

I’ve read both Drinking and Lit. They were both so good. Now I want to read Lit again. The Sackler family book is one I’ve wanted to read but worried it might be too painful of a read. I might be up for it now.

A really good fiction read is Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingslover. It’s about a boy in the South in the middle of the opioid crisis. And all the characters whose addictions shape his life.

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Katie MacBride's avatar

I loved Demon Copperhead! The Sackler book is both sad and infuriating but also excellent and really informative. It’s a tough one, though.

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Ilana Masad's avatar

I am SO pleased to see you recommend 28 Days omg, it's oddly one of my very favorite films (also the casting is just immaculate and I will follow gay Alan Tudyk with a thick German accent to the ends of the earth) <3.

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Katie MacBride's avatar

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. (and beyond, if you watch resident alien, which I highly recommend. he's neither gay nor german, but he's equally perfect in it).

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