A personal narrative of addiction and the culture that birthed it
Leslie Jamison weaves cultural critique into her memoir about alcohol and creativity.
alcoholism
The United States of intoxication
18th-century colonists drank beer with breakfast and continued throughout the day, with average consumption twice as high as today’s.
When we work with others or with ourselves, we cannot let the diagnosis define us, as humans. We need to resist the temptation to identify one another by our sickness or defects--even though the act gives us a certain power over one another. Looking beyond the label to the context forces us to think theologically about people.
Everyone knew the family's problems, but there was never a word of judgment or even pity. The congregation was just being the church.
The early history of Alcoholics Anonymous has always fascinated me, so I was eager to see the much heralded new documentary Bill W.
Defense lawyers for University of Virginia student George Huguely said their client was a "stupid drunk," not a killer. He was widely known to have a history of abusing alcohol--hardly a rarity on college campuses. Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, Yeardley Love, after a day of nonstop drinking. The case highlighted yet again the problem of rampant alcohol abuse on campus--and the situation of friends and bystanders who know perfectly well that someone has a drinking problem but don't care or know how to intervene.
