Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

As a sophomore in college, I found myself relating to much more of what Zailckas wrote than I had originally hoped or anticipated. I found myself not wanting to put down this gripping memoir but at the time being so scared that I had to walk away from the book. It is no secret that college kids drink and it is no secret that we drink in excess. The thing is no one every talks about it. We joke about the "Sunday Scarys" but we never talk about why a night after heavy drinking is so scary. Zailckas acts as the voice of college aged drunken girlhood. She perfectly articulates every emotion one feels as they binge drink, but cannot put a finger on. Chills formed on my arm as she compared her first sips of alcohol to the first time you are touched by a boy. She captures the feelings of loneliness you feel as a high schooler trying to find a path. Her voice will speak to this generation giving us feelings that we knew we had but were unable to speak. In writing the story of her drunken girlhood, Koren Zailckas made way for a discussion about drinking and how it affects the female psyche.

The first 100 or so pages of "Smashed" were, for me, terrific: an first person account at what it's like for a 14 year old girl to drink, and drink to get drunk. Being male and not having had a real drink until I was a Sophomore in college, it was all new to me. But it's hard to feel like i could get a good handle on what exactly it was like for the author the first several years of her drinking, partly since she suffered so many blackouts and couldn't recall what had happened to her (other than that, whatever happened, it was shameful), but there was another reason as well.As the book moved on to high school and college it dawned on me that this young woman is, or was, utterly joyless. There are no passages where she is simply happy..about anything, and of course I don't know if it was the alcohol or if this is her base personality. But as I worked my way through the pages I was, to be blunt, simply hoping I could get this one over with and read something a little more engaging. This strikingly beautiful young woman, who was born into much privilege and is so talented, then was accepted into a solid school like Syracuse (which she is relentless in describing as a depressing place...just unrelenting about that), becomes a football cheerleader (actually i am assuming it was football since she doesn't even bother to name the sport except that she got her face on tv) and became a member of the one of SU's leading party sorority's.Page after page of drinking to get drunk; utterly empty, wasted years where Zailckas seems to do nothing but hook up with men she despises and do things she gets no pleasure from. Wow. I can't believe I read the whole thing, it depressed me so much.Then we get to the "happy ending" part. Zailckas meets her Prince Charming: her very first description of this guy is how good looking he is and how other women fawn over him: good for her. To me, this part displayed the author in all her shallowness. She apparently is one of the elite of society who has the ability to wear the perfect, "cool" clothes no matter how grungy they appear. She has the ability to pick up men who look like Chippendales dancers and then detests them for...well...she always found a reason. She has the ability to turn almost a decade of heavy duty drinking NOT into a string of DUI's; not into a string of unwanted children; and not into any failed marraiges. No, Zailckas drunkedness allowed her to sign a book deal. Now she has a career. What are you going to write about next, Koren? Buying the coolest pair of jeans at the trendiest Manhatten store? Good luck to you. I gave my review of this book three stars because Ms. Zailckas is a very talented writer; the writing is very good, it's just not a whole lot of fun to read a drunklog for 300+ pages.

Love the raw honesty and truth behind how we are all told to drink in college, or as teenagers. It has been said to be a 'write of passage' and a ' badge of honor' to be a woman and drink like the boys. Sadly not all are able to drink like "normal" people. Some of us drank hard for too long like our peers and had to be honest with ourselves about our own personal relationship to drinking. This story is not mine, but still feels familiar to being a girl and then a women drinking today.

Koren Zailckas' memoir is definitely an interesting read. It's very well-written, and I stopped more than once to admire a few descriptive sentences or paragraphs. Unlike some of the other reveiwers, I do not believe she "denies" her "alcoholism" at all. Horribly abusing alcohol is not necessarily proof of alcoholism. One can be addicted physically and psychologically and still not be an "alcoholic". And, even when one is no longer physically addicted, but still may be psychologically addicted, it doesn't mean they are an "alcoholic". It means they have a compulsion they need to learn how to control. It doesn't necessarily always follow that everyone needs to admit powerlessness and be in endless recovery and has a disease. Although the disease model is accepted by the AMA and other organizations, there is more evidence and proof that it is, in fact, not a disease, but a compulsion or choice that can be conquered. (Please see the work of Stanton Peele PhD, Albert Ellis PhD, James DeSena PhD, Jeffrey Schaler PhD, etc. for more info) In addition, Harvard University did a study that cited that 80% of all addicts quit on their own without the assistance of "recovery programs", so there is no reason to doubt her ability to quit drinking and/or even drink moderately in the future (as opposed to the 95% failure rate of AA).This said, I am not sure I'd really recommend this book, though I'd definitely recommend A Million Little Pieces (James Frey) or Dry (Augusten Burroughs). And, I can't even tell you why this is! I found Zailckas almost tiresome by the end of the book. I found the continuing mistakes she made absolutely annoying. Yes, I finished the book, but by the time I was through with it, I was so happy I wouldn't have to read her anymore.Still, I found much of her story mostly interesting-- enough to keep reading. I did empathize with her as she found herself in humiliating and dangerous situations after a night of drinking and, at times, blacking out. And, although I stand by my earlier comments regarding abusing alcohol and being an "alcoholic", I wonder what the author believes would actually define an alcoholic, if not her behavior, since she does seem to accept the disease model of alcoholism and does seem to believe that some people do suffer with this disease-- just not her.I am a bit ambivalent about recommending this book. It's worth reading or skimming. It's something I'd pick up from the library and only purchase for a high school- or college-age girl who you believe might have an interest in the subject.

Koren, your story resonates highly with me, much as I wish it wouldn't, from the perspective of knowing or not, this is a book more than worth a look...honestly.

Love this book, its in my top 5 all time favouritres. I think everyone should read this as it is very well written

Brave exploration of her relationship with alcohol. Not often women are allowed to tell their tale, so make the most of this.

A fantastic and brutally honest book. Makes you think of our cultural view on alcohol.

Excellent...could not put the book down. I could relate to so much , thank you for sharing your honesty, it has helped me so much .