The Recovering by Leslie Jamison

When I picked up this book I didn't know anything about it, I just knew that Leslie Jamison had written it and that was enough for me. In "The Recovering" Jamison loosely uses the structure of an AA meeting to tell the story of her alcoholism, her recovery, and all the parts of life that are affected by both. Her stories are moving and beautifully written. And she doesn't only tell her story, she writes about famous authors and artists as they struggled with their addictions, and she writes about people she met through AA that helped her with her sobriety. She reminds us that recovery stories are powerful in their sameness, not in their diversity. But every story deserves the space to be told.

It was Leslie Jamison's essay "The Empathy Exams" that first introduced me to Creative Nonfiction, which became my emphasis in my degree. Her writing in this book was different, but it felt the same, if that makes any sense. I just really loved this book and I don't want to say too much more and start to sound like I'm ranting about it.

Maybe a book about hard things isn't the best when the world feels like one continuous hard thing, but I wholly recommend this book. The writing is beautiful and it reminds us that our empathy is important. I took a while to read this book because I wanted to give it my full attention and there was a while where I was too easily distracted. But it is definitely worth the time, I loved every minute of reading.

XO, Ellen