Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol

by Ann Dowsett Johnston

Overview

In Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, award-winning journalist Anne Dowsett Johnston combines in-depth research with her own personal story of recovery, and delivers a groundbreaking examination of a shocking yet little recognized epidemic threatening society today: the precipitous rise in risky drinking among women and girls.

With the feminist revolution, women have closed the gender gap in their professional and educational lives. They have also achieved equality with men in more troubling areas as well. In the U.S. alone, the rates of alcohol abuse among women have skyrocketed in the past decade. DUIs, “drunkorexia” (choosing to limit eating to consume greater quantities of alcohol), and health problems connected to drinking are all rising—a problem exacerbated by the alcohol industry itself.

Battling for women’s dollars and leisure time, corporations have developed marketing strategies and products targeted exclusively to women. Equally alarming is a recent CDC report showing a sharp rise in binge drinking, putting women and girls at further risk.

As she brilliantly weaves in-depth research, interviews with leading researchers, and the moving story of her own struggle with alcohol abuse, Johnston illuminates this startling epidemic, dissecting the psychological, social, and industry factors that have contributed to its rise, and exploring its long-lasting impact on our society and individual lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062241818
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	811,255
File size:	456 KB

About the Author

The winner of five National Magazine Awards, Ann Dowsett Johnston is a writer and editor recognized for her expertise in higher education and alcohol policy. A recipient of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and a Southam Fellowship in Journalism, she spent most of her professional career at Maclean's magazine, where she was best known as the chief architect of the university-rankings issue. A graduate of Queen's University and a former vice principal of McGill University, she lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

Drink is a gift to women, to parents, and to all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism. The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.

Gabor Mate M.D.

In this comprehensively researched and insightful book, Ann Dowsett Johnston chronicles her own destructive dance with alcohol, her recovery and explores disturbing trends in contemporary women’s relationship to alcohol. A crucially important book for anyone interested in women’s health and addiction issues.” — Susan Juby, author of Nice Recovery

“Drink is a gift to women, to parents, and to all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism. The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.” — Gabor Maté M.D., author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

“A game-changing look at one of our culture’s hidden problems . . . honest, brave and inspirational.” — Margaret Trudeau, author of Changing My Mind

“A powerful and important book about the increase in alcoholism and binge-drinking among women, and about our willful blindness to the damages of drinking in our culture.” — Susan Cheever, author of My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson-His Life, and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous

“wallop of a book… full of riveting candor…Johnston brings the weight of her journalism and academic experience to build a convincing case that women are increasingly succumbing to the dark side of alcohol” — Washington Post

From the Publisher

A game-changing look at one of our culture’s hidden problems . . . honest, brave and inspirational.

Margaret Trudeau

In this comprehensively researched and insightful book, Ann Dowsett Johnston chronicles her own destructive dance with alcohol, her recovery and explores disturbing trends in contemporary women’s relationship to alcohol. A crucially important book for anyone interested in women’s health and addiction issues.

Susan Juby

A powerful and important book about the increase in alcoholism and binge-drinking among women, and about our willful blindness to the damages of drinking in our culture.

Susan Cheever

wallop of a book… full of riveting candor…Johnston brings the weight of her journalism and academic experience to build a convincing case that women are increasingly succumbing to the dark side of alcohol

Washington Post

Drink is a gift to women, to parents, and to all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism. The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.

Gabor Maté M.D.

Drink is a gift to women, to parents, and to all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism. The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.

Gabor Maté M.D.

wallop of a book… full of riveting candor…Johnston brings the weight of her journalism and academic experience to build a convincing case that women are increasingly succumbing to the dark side of alcohol

Washington Post