Monday, October 05, 2009

Addiction in Fiction

Over the years there have been many great novels that show what addiction—and sometimes recovery—are like. John Cheever’s stories are among the best. In a future blog I’ll write about some other novels and plays that I include in my “Literature of Addiction” class.

Last night I finished a new book that I recommend highly. It is “BLAME” by Michelle Huneven. Just published by Sarah Chrichton Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, “Blame” tells the story of a young college professor with too many alcohol-induced problems and a shocking accident that almost gets her attention. The book feels true to both drinking and recovery and Huneven makes the reader want more page after page. There are twists and turns in the plot just as there are twists and turns in recovery.

In many parts of the book I found myself saying, compare yourself in not out. The behaviors may vary but we recognize a real women in real recovery in this exceptional book and well told story. This would be a great book for a recovery book group.

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