George Lopez

Armen Keteyian

A third-generation Mexican-American comedian and actor describes his twenty-year rise from poor Chicano kid to success in the world of stand-up comedy and television, detailing his dysfunctional childhood, his triumph over alcoholism and depression, and other important aspects of his personal life and career

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Texas

My Long, Hard Look at Life, Love, and Laughter

In this eagerly awaited autobiography, comedian and prime-time television star George Lopez tells the heartbreaking yet humorous story of his inspirational rise from dead-end kid in the Valley to giving a command performance before the president of the United States. It is a rare story that touches us so deeply with its humor, sadness, and powerful message that it transcends the walls of race, culture, and class that divide us. Why You Crying? is just such a story. Abandoned by his migrant-worker father at the tender age of two months, deserted by a wild, mixed-up mother at the age of ten years, Lopez grew up angry, alone, teased, and tormented in California's San Fernando Valley, raised by grandparents who viewed love as a four-letter word. Inspired by his idols, Freddie Prinze Sr. and Richard Pryor, Lopez sets out on a tumultuous twenty-year journey into the manic world of stand-up comedy -- trying to learn a skill nobody can teach; scoring one night and bombing the next; fighting anger, alcohol, depression, and doubt all while battling the barriers built to keep Chicanos from breaking through, especially on network TV.Today, the George Lopez show is a prime-time hit on ABC and his sold-out stand-up performances attract thousands of fans of all ages, each drawn to the sidesplitting riffs mined from a life so sad it had to be funny. Why You Crying? takes an outsider from the San Fernando Valley to Warner Bros. studios to inside the Emmys to plush Pebble Beach and all the way to the halls of Harvard. Along the way it's pure G. Lo -- raw, real, and, ultimately, uplifting.

Why You Crying?

04ae969b-9e4e-42df-9b61-032b226aff39-1

Ruth Maxwell

Vintage, some cover wear but really great condition inside. 

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Oregon

The Booze Battle

d0c75ec2-2dd7-4755-9178-2c8c9745d3fb-0

Chris Prentiss

California

Addiction Ends Here

The breakthrough three-step program to total recovery from addiction to drugs, alcohol and addictive behaviors. Reveals the four causes of dependency and shows how to create a personalized , holistic treatment program to completely cure your dependency.

The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure

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Michelle Huneven

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Aaward. 
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist; Chicago Ttribune Favorite Fiction of the Year; O, the Oprah Magazine 10 Terrific Reads of the Year; A Washington Post Best Book of the Year; A Kansas City Star 100 Best Books of the Year.￼

Maryland

A Novel

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE CHICAGO TRIBUNE FAVORITE FICTION OF THE YEAR O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE TEN TERRIFIC READS OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A KANSAS CITY STAR 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Patsy MacLemoore, a twenty-eight-year-old history professor with a brand-new Ph.D. and a wild streak, wakes up in jail—yet again—after another epic alcoholic blackout. This time, though, a mother and daughter are dead, run over in Patsy's driveway. Patsy will the next decades of her life atoning for this unpardonable act. She goes to prison, sobers up, marries a much older man she meets in AA, and makes ongoing amends to her victims' family. Then, another piece of news turns up, casting her crime, and her life, in a different and unexpected light. Brilliant, morally complex, and often funny, Blame is a breathtaking story of contrition and what it takes to rebuild a life from the bottom up.

Blame

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#paperback #memoir #twins #family #mentalhealth #alcoholism

Michigan

A Memoir

They entered the world just five minutes apart, twins swimming out of the womb together, already arguing about who got to lead the way. They grew up together, best friends with rhyming names. They even went to the same college -- where one of them had a nervous breakdown, and the other didn't. Grown-up, one of them became a suicidal drunk, the other a success. Now, one is missing, and the other has just three days to find him. It really happened. The History of Swimming details Kim Powers' frantic search for his twin brother Tim who disappears from Manhattan one weekend while in his late 20s. Kim almost mystically imagines that the clues to Tim's whereabouts have been planted in a series of letters written by Tim over the years. Now, Kim uses the letters as a sort of roadmap that takes him to Texas, the setting of their greatest triumphs and tragedies. At the small Texas college where many of these events occurred, Kim falls in with two eccentric traveling companions who guidehim on the last leg of his quest, driving through the night to the one final place where Tim might be.

The History of Swimming

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Ann Leary

Ohio

Successful real-estate broker, mother, and raging alcoholic Hildy Good embarks on a life of denial and loneliness while resenting the intervention of her loved ones and becoming embroiled in a scandal in her New England town.

The Good House

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George S. McGovern

Delaware

My Daughter's Life and Death Struggle with Alcoholism

The former Democratic presidential candidate describes his daughter's long and difficult battle with alcoholism, her failed attempts at rehab, the family's struggle with difficult issues, and her tragic death. 100,000 first printing. Tour.

Terry

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James Robert Milam

Katherine Ketcham

New York

A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism

Ten of millions Americans suffer from alcoholism, yet most people still wrongly believe that alcoholism is a psychological or moral problem, and that it can be cured by psychotherapy or sheer will power. Based on groundbreaking scientific research, Under The Influence examine the physical factors that set alcoholics and non-alcoholics apart, and suggests a bold, stigma-free way of understanding and treating the alcoholic.

How to tell if someone you know is an alcoholic.

The progressive stages of alcoholism.

How to get an alcoholic into treatment--and how to choose a treatment program.

Why frequently prescribed drugs can be dangerous--even fatal--for alcoholics.

How to ensure a lasting recovery.

Praise for Under the Influence

"The most important breakthrough in alcoholism since the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935."--Ron Fagan, founder & director, Ceder Hills Alcoholism Treatment Center

"A landmark . . . A must for anyone concerned about drinking."--Alcoholism, Journal of the American Medical Society on Alcoholism and the Research Society on Alcoholism

"Vital, simple, world-changing information."--Co-Evolution Quarterly

"Under The Influence will advance by light years the understanding of alcoholism and the recovery process."--Mel Schulstad, Cofounder, National Association of Alcoholism Counselors

Under the Influence

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#paperback #nonfiction #biography #fiction #alcoholism #autobiography #general #korenzailckas 

Story of a Drunken Girlhood

Garnering a vast amount of attention from young people and parents, Smashed became a media sensation in the US and New York Times bestseller. Eye-opening and utterly gripping, Koren's story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics - yet - but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage. Smashed is a sober look at how Zailckas drank from the age of 14 to some horrific results (stomach pumping, memory loss etc), what it took for her to realise she had to stop drinking and it is ultimately a literary debut destined to become a classic.

Smashed

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Anne Lamott

Utah

Some Thoughts on Faith

From the bestselling author ofOperating InstructionsandBird by Birdcomes a chronicle of faith and spirituality that is at once tough, personal, affectionate, wise and very funny. With an exuberant mix of passion, insight, and humor, Anne Lamott takes us on a journey through her often troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith. In a narrative spiced with stories and scripture, with diatribes, laughter, and tears, Lamott tells how, against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. She shows us the myriad ways in which this sustains and guides her, shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life and exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope. Whether writing about her family or her dreadlocks, sick children or old friends, the most religious women of her church of the men she's dated, Lamott reveals the hard-won wisdom gathered along her path to connectedness and liberation.

Traveling Mercies

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Margaret Gold

If you want it to help, it will. 

I’m a friend of Bill, but I know AA isn’t for everybody :)

Trade pbk, 65 pages, like new. I’ve priced it as low as I can go. But I’ll ship quickly anyway!

No meeting guide to clearing up your drinking problem for good

Lose the Booze: the No-Meetings Guide to Clearing up Your Drinking Problem, for Good

6408bfa7-6119-4462-ac9f-f03da66a044f-0

#librarybinding #YA #roadtrip #alcoholism #awardwinning #coming-of-age #women #womanauthor 

Minnesota

Hired by Madeline Gladstone, the president of a shoe company, to help her prevent a corporate takeover, 16-year-old Jenna Boller embarks on an eye-opening adventure that teaches both of them the rules of the road-and the rules of life.

Rules of the Road

77ffaf4b-3f94-4a64-97c8-719f10cd2184-1

William Alexander

This book provides a long-needed alternative to the reliance upon a "higher power" that is so much a part of traditional twelve-step addictions recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. In simple and practical language, Alexander, himself a recovering alcoholic, introduces a new, nonreligious approach to addiction recovery that he calls "Ordinary Recovery", which draws upon the wisdom of mindfulness practice.

Cool Water

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Jane Leslie Conly

Tennessee

Increasingly alienated from his widowed father, Vernon joins his friends in ridiculing the neighborhood outcasts'Maxine, an alcoholic prone to outrageous behavior, and Ronald, her retarded son. But when a social service agency tries to put Ronald into a special home, Vernon fights against the move. 1994 Newbery Honor Book Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA) 1994 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA) 1994 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) Young Adult Choices for 1995 (IRA)

Crazy Lady!

c7164d4c-adbc-4775-ae12-876dedd16fb2-1

William Kennedy

Washington

In 1938, Francis Phelan, a murderer, is reduced to flop houses and hobo jungles and returns to a depressed Albany, where--as a gravedigger--he shuffles his rag tag way to survival

Ironweed

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Sarah Hepola

Georgia

Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

"It's such a savage thing to lose your memory, but the crazy thing is, it doesn't hurt one bit. A blackout doesn't sting, or stab, or leave a scar when it robs you. Close your eyes and open them again. That's what a blackout feels like." For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure." She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. Drinking felt like freedom, part of her birthright as a strong, enlightened twenty-first-century woman. But there was a price. She often blacked out, waking up with a blank space where four hours should be. Mornings became detective work on her own life. What did I say last night? How did I meet that guy? She apologized for things she couldn't remember doing, as though she were cleaning up after an evil twin. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth. The fuel she thought she needed was draining her spirit instead. A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, BLACKOUT is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure--the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It's about giving up the thing you cherish most--but getting yourself back in return.

Blackout

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Koren Zailckas

Illinois

Rikki West

Massachusetts

Pursuing Truth in a Messy World

Perfect for readers seeking a higher understanding of their spiritual self, Rikki West’s vibrant memoir follows her journey to confront hidden assumptions and childhood trauma on her way to finding her life’s undeniable, living truth. Rikki West’s tale begins with her Catholic childhood in a Chicago suburb. As a little girl, she prays for her drunk father, begging God not to send him to hell. As a rebellious adolescent, she abandons religion, yet she yearns to connect with something more loving and peaceful than the human mind. As a teen on the California coast in the 1960s, she seeks union with higher consciousness through drugs and mantra repetition. And as a young woman studying at UC Berkeley, she gives up spiritual matters and shifts her trust to science as the only reliable truth. But something is missing for her—and when she launches her career in Silicon Valley, the drinking culture forces her to confront her own demons. Relying on Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy to stay sober, Rikki gravitates to Eastern spirituality to find her genuine self and relationship to the universe. But after years of fasting, chanting, and praying, she still finds herself seeking more—and ultimately, it is only when she throws overboard all her notions of God and truth that something unexpected and wonderful blossoms in her world. The Empty Bowl is the story of a human seeking self-knowledge—fraught with victories and disappointments, streaked with longing for love and peace.

The Empty Bowl

51acdadf-84ef-474e-995f-faff8bc523c8-0

Suzanne Somers

In "Keeping Secrets: An Autobiography," actress Suzanne Somers candidly shares her personal journey growing up in an alcoholic family. She discusses the challenges she faced, the impact of her father's alcoholism on her life, and her path to healing and recovery. This memoir offers an intimate look into the struggles and triumphs of dealing with family addiction and finding personal strength. AMAZON.COM

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

An Autobiography

The autobiography of the television star that candidly tells of the devastating effects alcoholism has had on her life.

Keeping Secrets

8c32586f-fdea-4f2c-a8f7-4b3401b61f94-1

James Frey

S259, c2004; good condition but does feel well-read

A memoir of drug and alcohol abuse and the rehabilitation experience examines addiction and recovery through the eyes of a man who had taken his addictions to deadly extremes, describing the battle to confront the consequences of his life.

A Million Little Pieces

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Anonymous

Louisiana

This best-selling meditation book for those in recovery offers daily thoughts, meditations, and prayers for living a clean and sober life. Since 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day has become a stable force in the recovery of many alcoholics throughout the world. With over nine million copies in print (the original text has been revised), this "little black book" offers daily thoughts, meditations, and prayers for living a clean and sober life. A spiritual resource with practical applications to fit our daily lives."For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision" is part of the Sanskrit proverb quoted at the beginning of the book which has become one of the basic building blocks for a life of sobriety. In addition to a thought, meditation and prayer for each day of the year, this handy, pocket-sized volume also contains the Serenity Prayer and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a simple, yet effective way to help us relate the Twelve Steps to everyday life and helps us find the power not to take that first drink each day.

Twenty-Four Hours a Day (mini book)

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Selma Blair

A Memoir of Growing Up

Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as ... a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.             
 
"Blair is a rebel, an artist, and it turns out: a writer." --Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Untamed and Founder of Together Rising

The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention.
 
Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape.
 
Over the course of this beautiful and, at times, devasting memoir, Selma lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, and the moments she flirted with death. There is brutal violence, passionate love, true friendship, the gift of motherhood, and, finally, the surprising salvation of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
 
In a voice that is powerfully original, fiercely intelligent, and full of hard-won wisdom, Selma Blair's Mean Baby is a deeply human memoir and a true literary achievement. 

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George Lopez; Armen Keteyian

Why You Crying?

Ruth Maxwell

The Booze Battle

Chris Prentiss

The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure

Michelle Huneven

Blame

Kim Powers

The History of Swimming

Ann Leary

The Good House

George S. McGovern

Terry

James Robert Milam; Katherine Ketcham

Under the Influence

Koren Zailckas

Smashed

Anne Lamott

Traveling Mercies

Margaret Gold

Lose the Booze: the No-Meetings Guide to Clearing up Your Drinking Problem, for Good

Joan Bauer

Rules of the Road

William Alexander

Cool Water

Jane Leslie Conly

Crazy Lady!

William Kennedy

Ironweed

Sarah Hepola

Blackout

Koren Zailckas

Smashed

Rikki West

The Empty Bowl

Koren Zailckas

Smashed

Suzanne Somers

Keeping Secrets

Sarah Hepola

Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

James Frey

A Million Little Pieces

Anonymous

Twenty-Four Hours a Day (mini book)

Selma Blair

Mean Baby