Drink

One of the Washington Post's Ten Best Books of 2013

More than twenty-three thousand women die from heavy drinking in the United States each year. Incidents of binge drinking and so-called drunkorexia are on the rise, contributing to an exponential increase in the number of health conditions and cancers among women.

Combining in-depth research with her own personal story of recovery, the award-winning journalist Ann Dowsett Johnston tells of maintaining her high-powered career as a vice principal of McGill University while wrestling with the demon that defeated her own mother: alcohol addiction. After a very private exit from her professional life, Dowsett Johnston went to rehab; now sober, she has dedicated her career to examining the relationship between women and high-risk drinking.

In Drink, Dowsett Johnston dissects the psychological, social, and workplace factors that contribute to this crisis, and explores its far-reaching effect on both society at large and individual lives. Comprehensive and emotionally compelling, Drink is a brave and powerful story, beautifully told, and an important investigation into an epidemic that we can no longer afford to ignore.