Smashed (Anna Sullivan) (Nicole Chivas)

Smashed: Story Of A Drunken Girlhood
Koren Zailckas
Penguin Books
339 pages
I borrowed this book from my friend.

In Smashed, the author Koren Zailckas tells the story of her life. She describes how her youth was lost because of alcohol. She tells about her first sip of alcohol at age fourteen, to her last at age twenty-three. Because of drugs and alcohol, Zailckas began going behind her parent's backs and loosing her closest friends. At age sixteen she was admitted into the hospital to get her stomach pumped because of alcohol poisoning. The author talks about her college experience, how it would have been completely different if alcohol had not been a factor in her life, and how her life would have been so much better without it. Throughout the book the author reflects on parties, relationships and mistakes she made in college. She explains that alcohol created her social life and made her do things that she normally would never have even thought of doing.

The audience for this book is adults or young adults, because there are probably some people in those categories that can relate to some of the things that Koren Zailckas describes.

The authors writing style is straight forward, she is very blunt about everything and doesn't hold back.
"The following year, the university will release an alcohol-and drug-use survey of more than three hundred students, mostly freshmen and sophomores, and more than half will say we began using alcohol sometime between ages fourteen and seventeen"(Zailckas 123).

"Later, I Will realize that what I see as self-sufficiency, Wendi sees as exclusivity. At first, I don't think my drinking concerns her so much as it makes her feel rejected. Wendi, who has had little experience drinking before college, is just now learning that alcohol is the tie that binds. I think shes envious of the way that drinking allies Tess and me. It secures our bull sessions, capers, and absurd inside jokes"(Zailckas 123).
This passage struck me because it shows how the author thought that people were envious of her drinking, even though people were just worried about her.
"You should be able to rise above your voracity for vodka, but that kind of climb is not easy, it is not even possible, when you have no other reserves of strength. When all of your endurance is tied up in drinking, there is nothing else that can hold you"(Zailckas 223).
This struck me because it shows the effect that alcohol can have on someone. It can completely take over someone's life so quickly.
"In the end, I see alcohol like a man that has courted us all. Alcohol has been the first love of many of us; it had us believing we were desirable and challenging in its presence alone" (Zailckas 339).
This passage struck me because the author over came alcoholism, and she was not embarrassed about it and used it to help other people.

I believe that the primary theme of the book is growing up, and learning how to make good choices.
“I think it's no coincidence that a shot is called a shot. You throw back that little jigger of liquor with the same urgency with which a gun fires ammunition into open space. You feel the same ringing in your ears, the same kickback in your arms and chest. The first time you drink, you don't aim to get drunk. The thrill of pulling the trigger is itself enough. If you like the crack of the rifle, you'll be back for a second go, which is when you'll pay attention to the crosshairs and fire enough shots to hit the mark.” (page 27)
“The party girl has always existed, and it appears that she will simply never go away, particularly in the era of tabloid television shows in which cameramen stalk Los Angeles nightclubs in the hope of provoking a shit-faced starlet to flash the finger. The party girl will never stop running up five-thousand-dollar bar tabs, puking in the bathroom at Lot 61, or getting kicked out of Vegas nightclubs while screaming “Don't you know who I am?” She will never stop making headlines in the New York Post for gargling champagne and lifting up her skirt…The party gal is a sad and beautiful ingenue, who appears in photographs with tousled hair, smudged eyeliner, and a visible thong. And as long as she exists in real life, we will never cease to be interested in her.” (page 185)

I would give this book an A. It is a great read. It is laid back, and the author is very blunt about everything. It shows how making the right decisions can greatly impact your life.

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I decided to read this book because my sister had started reading it and said it was good. Also, the book seemed like something I’d be interested in reading.
This book is about a young woman named Koren Zailckas and how from a young age she started drinking. She writes beginning with her first drink of alcohol at age fourteen up until she’s twenty two. Koren never thought of her self as an alcoholic but rather an abuser. For this she tells her stories and experiences of drinking. She uses alcohol to mask loneliness and not knowing her point in life yet. At sixteen she ends up in the hospital getting her stomach pumped. She will lose and gain friends over time. College parties will be a routine for her and the normal. In the end she comes to the realization of the impact alcohol has on her life and quits.
The audience for this book would be for young girls like author growing up and experimenting with alcohol because in her preface and story young girl may be able to relate or learn from her.
The author’s writing style is as how she would talk and tell a story or write in a diary. Also it is descriptive, relating her situations and feelings to or things. “Around two o’clock I trudge in the direction of the hotel pool, like a dead girl walking, thinking I can’t possibly put if off any longer…I hope my parents’ backlash will be quick and painless, a kind of lethal injection , my social life ended abruptly at the hands of the state,” (75).

Passages:
1) “For an instant I am sixteen again. I remember everything form the morning in September: my breakfast poker face, the aches in my arms, and the vacuous space in my head. It occurs to me that this is what so many people say recovery is. Through the exchange of war stories, we learn that our fallings aren’t only personal, they are cultural,” (338). This struck be because it seems the author will forever remember this big life threatening moment and the feelings that came with it. Also, you can easily find other people that share a similar experience with you. This shows you’re not alone.
2) “Years later, when my parents ask if I used to drink and sneak out because I wanted to test their boundaries, I’ll say yes, even though that was never my aim. I won’t know how to tell them it was a suicidal impulse that drove me out windows. I had a curious It’s a Wonderful Life-like compulsion to explore what my house, or my life, would look like without me in it,” (80). This passage stuck me because it shows how hidden people can be over something like alcohol. Her parents just took her answer and never took a second look into why she did the things she did.
3) “My alcohol abuse was a seed that fell at just the right time, in just the right place, when all the conditions were just right to nurture it. To understand the outgrowth, I have to go back to the first bottle that fell out of the liquor chest and into my ready hands. I have to go back to the beginning,” (1) I chose this passage because I agree that if anyone goes back to the beginning of things they will find the answer they’re looking for, or will make some more sense out of it.
The primary theme of this book would be, be careful of abusing alcohol or a drug because you’ll lose a lot in the end and will be left dealing with the things you were trying to avoid. “I do it because I’m inferior. I do it because I think you don’t want me, and the lowliness is the reason I drink, too,” (130). This passage is an example of the theme because it deals with a feeling revolved around the theme. “We have been terrifyingly devoted to it, and it’s left too many of us a heart sore.” This is another example because the “it” represents alcohol and how when people get stuck on it, the ending hurts. (339)
Overall I would give this book an A. I liked the way it was written and how it was someone looking back on their own life. It’s a book that keeps you interested. It is not that hard to read or comprehend either. There is deep meaning in this book.