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ksoles
May 24, 2013ksoles rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Confessional autobiographies, epiphanic tales and addiction memoirs have proliferated bookstore shelves in recent years. However, Polish-born Torontonian Jowita Bydlowska’s account of her relapse into alcoholism stands out because, at the time, she also acted as primary caregiver for her infant son. Her failure to care for a helpless child makes her rapid decline all the more tragic and horrific; the stress placed on her relationship with her boyfriend seems marginal by comparison. The strength of "Drunk Mom" lies in the power of Bydlowska's story, told retrospectively through sobriety’s hindsight using painfully direct language. The author does stretch her metaphor of mother as failed monarch to the breaking point, though, and the monotony of buying, hiding, drinking, and disposing of bottles weakens the book's momentum. The book with resonate most with those touched by addiction but, to all readers, it searingly shows how self-delusion and self-destructive behaviour ruin lives.