Caroline Knapp Criticism
Caroline Knapp's memoir, Drinking: A Love Story, offers a poignant and introspective exploration of her battle with alcoholism, viewed through a woman's lens. Born into privilege, Knapp led an ostensibly successful life, graduating from Brown University and writing for the Boston Phoenix. Her personal narrative challenges the stereotypical image of an alcoholic, detailing her experience from her first drink as a teenager to her decision to enter rehabilitation at thirty-four. Knapp's memoir is heavily influenced by her family dynamics, including a distant relationship with her father, a psychiatrist and fellow alcoholic. Following the deaths of her parents in the early 1990s, Knapp's drinking escalated until she sought help in 1994. Besides her alcoholism, Knapp candidly addresses related personal struggles, including anorexia and the emotional aftermath of an abortion and an affair.
Critics have offered varied evaluations of Drinking: A Love Story. Some, like Meryl Gordon, critique her portrayal of other alcoholics, while others, such as Elizabeth Houghton, applaud her personal revelations but find fault in her broader characterizations. Despite these criticisms, Knapp's work is celebrated for its honesty and depth of self-exploration. As noted by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Knapp's memoir is a significant exercise in self-discovery. Her prose, praised as "measured, hand-cut gems" by Walter Kirn, captures the heart-breaking honesty that Kim Hubbard commends. The memoir's nuanced exploration of addiction and personal redemption continues to resonate with readers and scholars alike, offering rich material for discussion and analysis.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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Her Time in a Bottle: Caroline Knapp's Memoir Recounts Her Painful Love Affair with Alcohol
(summary)
In the following essay, Knapp discusses with Sege why she wrote Drinking: A Love Story and details her experiences as an alcoholic.
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Hitting Bottom
(summary)
Gordon offers a negative assessment of Drinking: A Love Story, discussing Caroline Knapp's background and family dynamics that contributed to her alcoholism.
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The High Life from the Bottom of a Bottle
(summary)
Houghton is an American writer. In the mixed review of Drinking: A Love Story below, she praises Knapp's depiction of her own addiction but faults her portrayal of other alcoholics.
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Two Lives, One Lost to Alcoholism and the Other Surviving It
(summary)
In the excerpt below, Lehmann-Haupt states that Knapp's account of her alcoholism "is a remarkable exercise in self-discovery."
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Drinking: A Love Story
(summary)
In the positive review below, Hubbard lauds Knapp's 'heart-breaking honesty.'
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Drinking: A Love Story
(summary)
In the following mixed review, Marcus questions Knapp's focus and intention in Drinking: A Love Story. Caroline Knapp started drinking when she was 14, and spent almost 20 years as an alcoholic. Throughout the 1980s she maintained a good front, holding down a high-pressure job at the Boston Phoenix and keeping her addiction under wraps. Much of the time she managed to hide it even from herself: "You know and you don't know. You know and you won't know, and as long as the outsides of your life remain intact—your job and your professional persona—it's very hard to accept that the insides, the pieces of you that have to do with integrity and self-esteem, are slowly rotting away." This acceptance didn't come to Knapp until the early 1990s, when she finally entered a rehab program.
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Her Time in a Bottle: Caroline Knapp's Memoir Recounts Her Painful Love Affair with Alcohol
(summary)