Customer Reviews

Nice Girl Like Me: A Story of the Seventies (Pavanne Books)

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I am a recovering alcoholic.
If you are suffering from alcoholism I recommend you read this book.
(You could also read mine.)
I also recommend you attend a 12-step programme (AA).
But more than this I recommend you do the following:

STOP DRINKING

Despite anything you might have heard or anything you tell yourself there really is no alternative.
You can stop drinking or you can end up in an institution (Rosie did, I did), on the streets or dead.
Stopping drinking may be the hardest thing you ever do but there is a new, better life waiting for you.
Do you want it?

-Paul Pisces
"Everyday I take out the shotgun.
Everyday I taste the gun-metal.
Everyday I make a decision.
Everyday I choose life.
Choose life.
And remember, there is a God; there must be."
Desperately Seeking Sex and Sobriety

Boycott's book was originally published in 1983, and has obviously been resurrected due to the current trend for 'addict memoirs'. Unfortunately,it hasn't dated well and Boycott comes off as a spoilt, upper class twit who thoroughly believes in her own superiority (while in rehab, she makes sure she distinguishes herself and her friends from the 'loonies' that are also in attendance.) I think some of the medical information may be outdated too - 'alcoholism is NOT a mental illness' is stated repeatedly which is spurious at best and arrogant at worst. There are far better rehab memoirs out there:More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction and Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking and Livedare just two examples. Reading 'Nice Girl' just generates a feeling of 'Shaudenfraude, baby!' which I don't think was the author's intention.