Parched: A Memoir

by Heather King

Book Overview

One woman's journey to the bottom of the bottle--and back. In this tragicomic memoir about alcoholism as spiritual thirst, Heather King--writer, lawyer, and National Public Radio commentator--describes her descent into the depths of addiction. Spanning a decades-long downward spiral, King's harrowing story takes us from a small-town New England childhood to hitchhiking across the country to a cockroach-ridden "artist's" loft in Boston. Waitressing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451220064
• ISBN13: 9780451220066
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Berkley Pub Group
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Boring and Slow

It was pretty boring to me and I love addiction memoirs. I found myself trying to just hurry up and finish it so I could read something else. She adds A LOT of back story about her childhood that I think was unnecessary because it was pretty bland aside from the fact that she started drinking so young. It's also not very motivational unless you just want to be motivated not to be a total screw up and drink all the time cause that's literally all that happens in the book once you get past the boring story of her life.

Dry Rot

Most addiction memoirs share a common theme: look at me. But not Heather King's bittersweet, "Parched." On every page she seems to say, "look away. There's nothing to see here." Addiction memoirs also share another common theme: It's not my fault. Except King doesn't play the blame game. She doesn't blame an alcoholic home, childhood sexual abuse, a bad relationship, a catastrophic illness or event, unmet expectations or a reckless youth. She completely self-destructs under her own power. Finally, addiction memoirs usually have this in common: I am pathetic; feel sorry for me. King knows she's pathetic and she not only doesn't feel sorry for herself, she refuses to allow the reader to indulge in a pity party, either. King writes from such a shocking and hard perspective that her story caught me off-balance. In fact, I felt a little punch-drunk, stumbling along with her as she careened from one unfathomable disaster to another. I've never felt so inside an addiction story. It is what it is, she seems to say. And what it is is ugly. Yet, a profound sense of shame anchors this book. And her feeling of unworthiness is palatable even if it is inexplicable - this is a woman who graduated with honors from law school despite being chronically drunk. This is not a memoir masquerading as an explanation, or a boast, or revenge or even as a triumph. It is a memoir written as a stark confession. "Parched" is an intimate exploration of recovery through forgiveness.

"Parched" satiates the soul in this provocative alcoholic memoir

Heather King has written my favorite story in what I affectionately call "the booze books." Her beautiful writing coupled with unflinching and heartbreaking honesty make this memoir hard to put down. I copied the final paragraph and taped it in my car as a reminder of where she (and I) come from. It is nothing short of astonishing and far superior to A Million Little Pieces--overrated that it is. No gimmicks needed here--the pain, the compassion, the revelation of a remarkable woman who has truly lived two lifetimes in one. I wanted to hug her at the end and thank her for helping so many who've been in the trenches and survived.

Parched - a story of misery...and redemption

You probably don't know the name Heather King, unless you've heard some of her commentaries on NPR radio or read her essays in magazines. But I'm guessing you've heard of her little brother, Joe King, aka Joe Queer. Parched is an autobiography in which Heather King tells the story of her life and her decades-long addiction to alcohol. Its brutally frank, and remarkably detailed; clearly, even when she was drinking herself to death, Heather kept detailed journals. The story starts in her white-trash home in New Hampshire, then moves to Boston. It's an amazing story-even when she was drinking all the time, Heather managed to graduate from college with honors, finish law school, and pass the bar exam on her first try (it took John F. Kenney Jr., presumably clean and sober, three or four attempts, as I recall.) But although she was clear gifted and intelligent (and, as this book proves, had the makings of an author in her,) Heather was never able to move on with anything, including her law degree, until a family intervention forced her to face her problem and enter rehab. Through it all-the blackouts, the casual meaningless sex, the demeaning day jobs waitressing in dive restaurants-there's humor and humanity, and as colorful a cast of characters as you'll find in any book this year. The book ends with Heather finding sobriety, and there's at least one more book about the years since - finding her way back to practicing law, to becoming a writer, to NPR, and to finishing this book. I can't wait for the sequel. - Jim Testa

I wish there were ten stars to give this book

To be human is to desire - and to thirst for what is good and lasting is no small part of that desiring. I think it is all about thirsting for God. All of us go through fits and starts in trying to quench that thirst. Some of us may write about it and when that happens, the words, if they "work," share with the lucky reader the deepest sharing that is possible in life - for they invite us to taste something of God. This book works. Ms. King has written a wondrous memoir of her longing for God - and how she allowed him to find her. In her moves from thirst to thirst, she gets her life back, finds God in the process, and then goes on to share that with us. And that is what great writing is all about - thank you, Heather.

Great Debut

I sat down and read this book in one day because I could not put it down. An impressive debut from a clearly gifted writer.