Double Double: A Dual Memoir of AlcoholismFrom the opening paragraphs of Double Double: “We were sitting in a coffee shop talking, looking at the view of downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. This was ten years ago, and we had both been off alcohol for more than a decade. We were disagreeing about the best way to stay sober when my mother said, ‘I think we should write a book about alcoholism.’ “I sat back. ‘We?’ “‘Both of us. Two points of view.’” —from the Foreword Double Double is a unique, dual memoir of alcoholism, a disease that affects nearly 45 million Americans each year. People who suffer from alcoholism as well as their families and friends know that while it is possible to get sober, there is no one “right” way to do this. Now, award-winning mystery writer Martha Grimes and her son, Ken Grimes, offer two points of view on their struggles with alcoholism. In alternating chapters, they share their stories—stories of drinking, recovery, relapse, friendship, travel, work, success, and failure. For Martha, it was about drinking martinis at home, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. For Ken, it was partying in bars and clubs. Each hit bottom. Martha spent time doing outpatient rehabilitation, once in 1990 and again two years later. Ken began twelve-step recovery. This candid memoir describes how different both the disease and the recovery can look in two different people—even two people who are mother and son. Double Double is an intensely personal and illuminating book, filled with insights, humor, a little self-deprecation, and a lot of self-evaluation. Anyone who has faced alcoholism will identify with parts of this book. All readers will find these pages revealing, moving, and compelling. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 15 |
Section 3 | 20 |
Section 4 | 39 |
Section 5 | 46 |
Section 6 | 56 |
Section 7 | 62 |
Section 8 | 70 |
Section 15 | 132 |
Section 16 | 136 |
Section 17 | 150 |
Section 18 | 157 |
Section 19 | 161 |
Section 20 | 166 |
Section 21 | 171 |
Section 22 | 183 |
Section 9 | 74 |
Section 10 | 79 |
Section 11 | 94 |
Section 12 | 110 |
Section 13 | 113 |
Section 14 | 126 |
Section 23 | 187 |
Section 24 | 191 |
Section 25 | 196 |
Section 26 | 200 |
Section 27 | 209 |
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Common terms and phrases
addiction alco alcoholic asked beer behavior believe bottle called Charlie cigarettes clinic cocktail hour cook denial dinner disease Donald Trump Double Double Indemnity drank drinker drugs drunk endorphins father favorite feel felt five friends Frisbee girl girlfriend glass going Grateful Dead Grimes hand happened hard high school Iowa Julia keep Ken Kesey kids knew Kolmac laughed living look marijuana Martha Grimes martini Moderation Management mother never night parents party person pick problem Rational Recovery Raymond Carver reason relapse remember Richard Jury sitting smoking sober sobriety stared stop drinking sure talking teenagers tell therapist there's thing thought Tiny told trying turned twelve-step meetings twelve-step program University of Iowa vodka waiting walk week weekend Western Union wine wonder writing zabaglione