Cool, Hip & Sober: 88 Ways to Beat Booze and Drugs - Softcover

Manville, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765303159 ISBN 13: 9780765303158

Publisher: Forge Books, 2004

Synopsis

In a refreshingly clear-headed and informed approach to addiction, Bill Manville, noted writer and radio host of the popular talk show "Addictions and Answers," has compiled a list of 88 questions and answers from, "a ton of plain and fancy drunks and dopers" and their family and friends. Cool, Hip, and Sober offers valuable advice and information from his guests: noted psychiatrists, psychologists, rehab counselors, MDs, academics and more.

Here, in first-person detail, are responses to the issues faced by alcoholics, addicts, and their loved ones, such as:

* How can I stop for good today?
* How can I tell if someone I love will relapse?
* Alcholism . . . addiction . . . and sex
* Do interventions really work? And how do I set up one?
* How do I find the best rehab for me?
* The many faces of denial
* Is alcoholism inherited?
* And much, much more . . .

A brave, transformational look at the treatment of chemical dependency, Cool, Hip & Sober is a captivating, insightful and essential handbook for overcoming denial and achieving a peaceful, long-term recovery.

About this title

Review:

Bill Manville knows about battling booze--getting drunk, staying drunk, getting sober, relapsing, and, finally, staying sober for more than 20 years. Host of a talk show, Addictions & Answers, Manville writes in Q&A format, addressing his questioners' concerns about alcohol and drug abuse and recovery. Many are in denial about their alcoholism--despite waking up with strangers and losing jobs and relationships or think that life won't be any fun without a drink in both hands. Manville pulls no punches setting them straight. Despite his been-there-done-that, witty, sometimes confrontational style, he remains caring and positive. His advice is based on his own experience as a lush ("you hate the glass in your hand, pray to God not to drink it, and lift it to your lips and gulp it down anyway") and a devotee of Alcoholics Anonymous and residential treatment programs. He often brings in experts to supplement his advice. The section on formal interventions is worth the price of the book by itself. Highly recommended both for people who think that their alcohol or drug habit might be a problem and for their family and friends. --Joan Price

From the Inside Flap:

"What an inspiring book! Doesn't hurt that the author is a superb writer. I never read anything like this and am thrilled to recommend the book to anybody with the problem himself/herself or with a suffering family member."
-Helen Gurley Brown-Editor in Chief, Cosmopolitan magazine

"I was so moved time and again as I experienced the truth in these extraordinary pieces written by people who have been to the edge, flirted with disaster, and returned to new and better lives."
-Dominick Dunne

"From the drinking man's classic, "Saloon Society," in the sixties, to his sadder but wiser, Cool, Hip, and Sober, Bill Manville has consistently provided an honest, insightful first-person account of where alcoholism begins-and where it ends. The hard won wisdom of his latest book will be of value to anyone struggling with addiction."
-Keith Humphreys, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry Stanford University School of Medicine

"In my fifty-five years of journalism, I've seen a lot of people-including reporters and politicians-die from drink and drugs. Cool, Hip, and Sober could have prevented their untimely deaths. In fact, my only complaint is that Bill Manville didn't write and publish Cool, Hip, and Sober fifty-five years ago. It will undoubtedly save a lot of lives. Poignant and poetic, frank and funny, it makes sobriety seem quintessentially cool, so hip it hurts. Cool, Hip, and Sober is a book to give to those who suffer and to the friends and loved ones who suffer along with them. It is a book destined to redeem us all."
-Jack Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist

"In my twenty-one years in the field of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction many books on the subject have crossed my desk - factual and up to date but difficult for the troubled laymen to act on . . . that is why I think Cool, Hip, and Sober is unique. As a psychologist and chemical dependency professional myself, it is of great value to be able to provide my university students with an accurate portrayal of addiction . . . a text that bridges the gap from that professional perspective to the world of families who have known the personal truth of the journey so richly described in this remarkable text."
-Dr. Dave Moore, University of Washington, former Director, McDonald Rehabilitation Center, Scripps Health, San Diego

About this edition

• Publisher: Forge Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0765303159
• ISBN 13: 9780765303158
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288