Smashed (Eric Loubriel)

Title: Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood
Author: Koren Zailckas
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 339

Where did you find the book?
I found the book at Barnes and Nobles. I decided to read the book after the fact that I heard some people talking so highly about it.
Brief Summary:
Smashed is the story of a young woman’s struggle with alcohol abuse. From her first drink at age fourteen, Koren fell into a downward spiral. She feels like the alcohol will win her friends, somehow causing her to be more outgoing while she’s drunk. Her excess drinking eventually causes her to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency stomach pumping. You would think that it would be a turn around for young Koren, but when the liberties of college life get the better of her, her life only deteriorated even more. Her entire social life was to revolve around alcohol and plenty of it. Throughout her harrowing tale, she has written about the tens of parties in which she attended all ultimately leading to blackouts and promiscuities. Though at the end she has not quit drinking, she is well on her way to a lifetime of recovery.
Audience:
I believe that this book is targeted to the younger people (teens and twenties) as well as anyone who has struggled themselves, or know someone who is struggling with a drinking addiction.

Author’s Style:
The author uses a very descriptive style. My guess as to why she does so would be to paint a picture of that exact moment and as a way to have us feel how she was feeling. “I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes, and they are dangerously close to spilling out onto the whitened folds of my cheeks.” (Zailckas Pg.66)
3 Passages:
1. “They say, “If you’re curious about alcohol, that’s fine, but you’ll drink it with us”” (Zailckas Pg. 78)
I chose this passage because I do not think that “good” parents would encourage their teenage daughter to experiment with alcohol in their presence and their presence only.
2. “Since then, I’ve realized that house parties, which I first thought were very grown-up, are actually adolescent.” (Zailckas Pg. 136)
I chose this passage because it seems as though Koren is experiencing a turn around, but in reality what is to come is much worse.
3. “We produce our fake ID’s for the doorman, and he passes them back to us with total indifference.” (Zailckas Pg. 199)
This passage really struck me because it showed that her addiction got so bad, to the point where she would do illegal things to obtain it.
Interaction with the book:
Personally, I really interacted in a positive and negative way to this book. In a way it showed me actually how addicting just one drink can be and how it can lead to another one and another one. On the other side, it shone a light upon what family members and close friends are actually going through in their battle for sobriety. I can relate with Koren in a sense that we both aren’t as outgoing as others. However, I do not see myself abusing alcohol just to “fit in.” it is a sad truth, what happened to Koren, but it is real life. This is partly the reason why I enjoyed the book so much; because it actually depicted real life issues and was not made up.