The Bright Side of Alcoholism

Here's a little gift  to make you smile--I've just read about a new book which details the lives of several American writers who were alcoholic.  The book is called, "The Trip to Echo Spring" and it was written by Olivia Laing.

The review in today's Wall Street Journal is called "Writers on the Rocks"--a great title I think, and the reviewer, Henry Allen, opens with this line: "Strange how seldom we talk about the bright side of alcoholism, the glow."

He goes on to offer some wonderful quotes from America's best writers and drinkers--some of whom were able to describe alcoholism even as they were dying of it. He includes the great line from F. Scott Fitzgerald who famously said (and AA famously paraphrased), "First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you."

Olivia Laing, author of "The Trip to Echo Springs" is British, chose to write about American writers--all men and all alcoholic. She did not include any woman as subjects because, she says, it would "cut too close to the bone of her own family alcoholism."

This new book sounds like a great gift for writers, for recovering people and especially for recovering writers.

Here's the link to today's review of "The Trip to Echo Spring":

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304477704579256161314439106