Book description
The day Koren turned fourteen she tasted alcohol for the first time.
At fifteen she was piecing together forgotten fragments of drink, men
and misplaced clothes. At sixteen she was being carried through
hospital doors unconscious. And so it began...
Brought up by loving parents in a stable middle-class home, Koren
was a sweet and altogether normal child. Yet from her mid-teens until
her early twenties, she thought nothing of regularly drinking herself
into a state of amnesia. Alcohol became her safeguard and prop,
providing her with a self-confidence she couldn't otherwise feel. And
whilst drinking to excess was perfectly acceptable, even actively
encouraged, amongst her friends, it quickly reached a destructive
monotony that bordered on dependency. It took a number of terrifying
incidents - from stumbling home alone covered in vomit to waking up
naked in bed unsure of whether she had lost her virginity - before
Koren could finally say to herself enough was enough and seek help for
her problem.
Smashed is the shocking but all-too-recognisable story of a
young woman coming of age within a society that finds it easier to
turn a blind eye to binge-drinking than address the problem head on.
Beautifully written and brutally honest, compelling without preaching,
this is a book that demands to be read.
Koren Zailckas grew up in the suburbs of Boston and whilst at
Syracuse University was the subject of a
Time
magazine article about women and binge-drinking. She now lives in New
York City.
