Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking and Lived

By Tania Glyde

"Illuminating about the inner emotional damage that leads to wildly self-destructive behaviour; unputdownable."-- Evening Standard "Insightful. . . . Cleaning Up is timely."-- Guardian "Depicts with bravery and a blazingly defiant wit an ongoing struggle."-- Metro At the end of a twenty-three-year love affair with alcohol, Tania Glyde remembers her inner white wine witch. Cleaning Up examines why women drink, how to stop, and what life after alcohol is really like. In this witty and searingly honest memoir, Glyde addresses her party years--from the excuses used for drinking to the ones she used when giving up. Tania Glyde is a novelist and journalist. She lives in London.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852429496
• ISBN13: 9781852429492
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A Compelling and Fascinating Read

This memoir was a compelling read. The author's narrative is profoundly affecting: Glyde really shows, in almost cinematic detail, how, for her, the substance(s) came to equal abuse. The writing is elegant and spectacularly personal - - a real act of bravery on every page. Though it gives great insight into day-to-day life, and battles, with addiction, it's not a poor-me weepie. A warning to us all, perhaps, or a lesson, but also a story of triumph that's deeply inspiring.

Really hit the spot

Clearly a work of fact, not fiction. When the author describes some of the scrapes she finds herself in, I began to think I was there at the time. I particularly enjoyed hearing her 'friends' reactions to her attempts to improve her life, both when she announced she was quitting the demon rum and when she told them she was writing a book. As dear old Oscar, or one of his pals points out, 'to suceed is not enough; others must fail.' Well, others may not like it, but Tanya Glyde has succeeded. To your health!