Smashed: Story Of A Drunken Girlhood is a well-written (at times), deeply moving, and chillingly scary memoir by Koren Zailckas on her use and abuse of alcohol from the age of fourteen to the tender age of twenty-three. Though Koren should be applauded for telling her story, her opening statement where she says she is not alcoholic just doesn’t ring true for me:

“I drank after college. I drank through my first real move, my first job as an executive assistant, my first insurance forms, my first tax filing, and my first apartment where the rent was due on the first of the month. I drank after the real world revealed itself to me like a magic trick, after I saw the method of adulthood, the morning commutes and mindless jobs, which shattered the illusions I had about it. And at age twenty-three, I gave up drinking altogether once I realized how much it cost me. Still, I am not an alcoholic.”

With that said, it’s a really good book for females of similar age and background. For some, though, it may not be all that shocking but still a worthwhile read. Overall, I’d say that Koren Zailckas could have benefited from more clearheaded parents (similar to Jeannette Wall’s The Glass Castle) and a little more perspective as I feel that she hasn’t fought her last battle with the demon alcohol just yet.