Sweet Mystery: A Southern Memoir of Family Alcoholism, Mental Illness, and Recovery [Paperback]

Judith Hillman Paterson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...her psychological insights are sound, influenced by the psychoanalyst Alice Miller among others. For readers who have had similar experiences, this book could offer the comfort of sharing the survival of the horrific. -- The New York Times Book Review, Andrea Cooper

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Noonday Pr (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374524998
• ISBN-13: 978-0374524999
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,921,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare memoir that is not self-indulgent or self-pitying, April 30, 1998

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[e-mail] (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Mystery: A Southern Memoir of Family Alcoholism, Mental Illness, and Recovery (Paperback)

So many memoirs by survivors of extremely disfunctional families are simply impossible to read because of the author's overwhelming desire to wallow in self-pity. This memoir is insightful and clear, hiding nothing, but the tone is never pitiful. This would be a great book to use in a classroom learning about memoir, and also a good book for therapists to use with patients learning how to deal with their own "bad deals" as children. I usually read a book and pass it along to my mother and sister; but I'm keeping this one and buying separate copies for each of them.