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Smashed |
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Now 24, the first-time author examines her own alcohol abuse as a teen, starting from her first drink at 14 and moving into binge drinking, a trip to the hospital, and the depression and other problems that impacted her life until she finally was able to right herself.
Viking, 368 pages
02/07/2005
$21.95
ISBN: 0670033766
Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
The average user rating for this book is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Karen C gave it a3:
This book was not terrible, but it certainly wasn't memorable either. I really wanted to care about the plight of the narrator, but I never felt a connection to her-- that surprised me since I'm no more than a year older than the author and I'm also a college graduate who was no stranger to the binge drinking scene.
Jaye S gave it a10:
This book was truely outstanding. I have recomended it to many of my close friends and each one has enjoyed it just as much as I have. This story concentrates soley on the effects of drinking and the outcomes of a not very well planned out adolensence. I rate it a 10, outstanding.
Cait M gave it a7:
Koren Zailckas wrote an appealing first hand encounter of addiction. She tells her story through eyes saturated with alcohol and blackouts. The book titled Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood is written with conviction and the purpose of helping people understand that alcohol is easily accessible and abused frequently by underage middle class adolescents. Koren took her first drink at the age of 14 with and it quickly progressed. In high school she compared her not so casual drinking: “I sought out booze the way boys my age sought out sex.” At the age of 16, she got alcohol poisoning, and she then had to be rushed to the hospital to get her stomach pumped. This incident wasn’t enough of a wake up call; it would be more than 5 years from then for her to realize she has a problem. . Most consider college a place where underage drinking is common or normal but for Koren drinking is an everyday thing. She uses drinking to cover-up her shyness, self-consciousness, and depression among other things. All of Koren’s close friends through her story have only one thing in common; they all are heavy drinkers and this helps to fuel the feeling of normalcy of her life. Koren joins Zeta Alpha Sigma in her second year of college and describes them as the “Zeta Alcoholics”. While in the sorority Koren establishes a routine that consists of going to classes when her hangovers permitted, sleeping off the night before and going binge drinking almost every night. Although Ms. Zailckas writes a very well scripted and extremely detailed story there are some things that she could have done better. For example she spent little time expressing the important of some of the events in her memoir. The incident of drinking so much to the point of medical intervention at the age of 16 could have been emphasized a little more than it was. If she would have expressed the severity and the trauma that these experiences had cause she could have proven her point better. In adding more feelings the events and the direct effects they had on her life would be more noticeable and additional people could identify with it. Koren does try to make readers feel sympathetic towards women who when drinking and are taken advantage by “frat boys”. This is a sort of subliminal message dropped into the middle of her story as a sort of BEWARE to girls who are drinking and maybe vulnerable to a situation form her past. I think that high school girls should read this book to show what can happen if their not responsible and careful in college and high school. This book is a wonderful debut and courageous memoir for Koren Zailckas’ first book.
jme s gave it a9:
another great book on realism. Even if some nasty critics dont want to realize it.
cmj+jre s gave it a10:
I think she is a great writer. And i dont care what anyone has to say about her. yeah she has alot of issues... but shes pretty and could prob. have gotton any guy she wanted. but personly i think she should have stayed with chris.
kirsten n gave it a10:
great book. Everyone goes through this unless they have no social life. The question is: What causes people in todays society to become non- conformists whether it be in a very big way or a small way
Joseph Y gave it a0:
This is, even for a memior, awfully self absorbed. The writing is flat (AM Homes called, she wants the prose she stole from Richard Yates back), and the author does nothing to make us care about a cute, upper-middle class, white girl who has (not a drinking problem, mind you) self esteem issues. If you're a naive parent, then, yes, this book will "shock" you. If you think "Seventeen" magazine has any hint of substance and are desperately in need of attention and think that having problems is cool as long as you look good doing it, look no further. To everyone else, all I can say is I hope you didn't pay to read this.
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