Customer Reviews

Lighting Up: How I Stopped Smoking, Drinking, and Everything Else I Loved in Life Except Sex A Memoir

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Stumbled upon Susan Shapiro's new book, Lighting Up, yesterday. Just finished it with a bottle of Spanish Cab and a half a bar of Ghiradellis chocoalate, as if on a two-day binge. Further confirming my belief in Shapiro's brillance. She is a strong, self-assured, sensitive, sardonic woman... my kind of hero.

Susan Shapiro's honesty, humor, and talent as a storyteller make Lighting Up an irresistible read. As her second memoir, following Five Men Who Broke My Heart, this book offers even more insight into Shapiro's sharp mind and vulnerable heart. It is impossible not to relate on some level to her fascination, curiosity, and ultimately, obsession with her addiction therapist, Dr. Winters. It was also great fun to be reunited with some of the characters from her first memoir. The real heart of this book is not just in Shapiro's witty observations, but in her complex insights and relationships with the people she loves.

A fun, insightful, and challenging memoir by a New York writer who worked with a therapist to quit smoking. Along with quitting smoking, her therapist, Dr. Winters, helped her kick all self-medication and urged her to "sit with" and experience her emotions and feelings. It is a very interesting look at addiction recovery outside of the 12step paradigm. Highly recommended!

I enjoyed this book enormously. But I also have mixed feelings about it. The writing was snappy and comedic without being cutesy or gimmicky. By the end of the book, I was dying to move back to NYC and ask Dr. W to help me fix MY life. However, Shapiro's description of herself scared me a little. Her utter self-centeredness and self-absorption seemed to play into my theory that people who never have children never really grow up themselves. I am a childless woman in her 30s who may never have children. The book made me worry that I am or will become someone so selfish that I can't even empathize with another person's childcare issues or problems. (EG Shapiro is often completely unsympathetic when her therapist sometimes cancels appointments for personal reasons involving his daughter)I know that in the book Shapiro eventually does come to empathize with those who don't always put her needs first. Perhaps she is just honestly describing the temper tantrum-ish first response. It just seems like she is still stuck in this child's version of an adult world.

as an ex-smoker, i found this fast-paced, fresh, hysterically funny take on addiction to be right on target. shapiro's got a knack for making keen, insightful observations, particularly on family and the nature of dependency - the hilarious scene where she goes back home to see her parents and brothers after getting clean really rings true. but Lighting Up is more than just a book about substance abuse - it chronicles the universal struggle to be a sane, functioning human being in this crazy world.

I have had mixed feelings about Susan Shapiro's previous book.

However, because of the subject matter, I picked up this one with some hope.

I need not have worried. While the first few pages are a little weird (i.e. the therapist basically tells the couple what date to get married - and they do) this memoir is fresh and honest.

Shapiro takes a frank look at her addictions - starting with cigarettes only to discover that she has many more than she thought (see title).

Shapiro writes in a refreshing way and does not mince words when necessary. She manages to keep the tone of the story serious but fun and interesting at the same time. She is not overly dramatic (which often happens in memoirs) and basically, gives up a few pointers on how to overcome our additions.

I thoroughloy enjoyed this book.

A fan of Shapiro's first memoir, I came to her second book with high expectations and wasn't disappointed. Sue Shapiro is a master of the memoir. Her insights on the nature of addiction are fresh and complex and every chapter is full of the sarcastic, clever remarks that made her first book such a good read. I'm eager to see what Shapiro comes up with the next.

I've never had any addictions. But I easily related to the themes of need, satiation, and having to be honest with ourselves when coping with these feelings. This was surprisingly profound and I recommend this to anyone who's open to examining how as people we deal with loss.

We're all hooked on something: love, sports, drugs, cupcakes. No matter what your addiction is, you'll profit from reading Shapiro's book. In it, she detoxes from the substances that are preventing her from living her fullest, best life (cigarettes, pot, booze, gum -- don't laugh...even bread & pasta, perish the thought!) With fearless honesty and self-deprecating humor, Shapiro walks readers through the process, which she tackled with the help of a brilliant addictions specialist (and wannabe writer) named Dr. Winters, who has plenty of issues of his own. You'll love the little Zen wisdom notes he gives her at the end of each session; feel the discomfort of withdrawal; relate to the negative reactions of those around her when Shapiro overcomes her addictions, one by one; and most of all, cheer her on as she confronts her demons. Packed with insights (and cheaper than therapy), this memoir should be required reading for anyone seeking to reinvent themselves.

I loved Susan Shapiro's book "Five Men Who Broke My Heart" and couldn't wait to pick this one. It didn't disappoint. She has a fresh, open, honest, and funny as hell voice that makes it less like reading a book and more like reading a good friend's journal. She's open about all her flaws and she just has a way of setting the scene that makes you feel like you were there in the room with her. I just started her latest book SECRETS OF A FIX-UP FANATIC and it's also fantastic. This is one of those books that once you start it, you can't put it down.