Lush - by Kerry Cohen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

***As seen on NBC's TODAY Show***

When Loose Girl author Kerry Cohen reached her early 40s, she realized she was drinking too much. Her alcohol dependence was not obvious - she was still getting her kids to school in the morning and working a full day as a clinical psychologist. But when five o'clock rolled around, she was more than ready for a glass of wine. Or maybe two. Or maybe the whole bottle.

And while she may have been drinking alone, Cohen realized she was not alone in her struggle.

Lush is a fiercely honest exploration of the nature of alcoholism and alcohol recovery among middle-aged women, and Cohen's decision to use the controversial moderation management program to curb her nightly binges.

For any woman who has wondered how much wine is too much wine, Cohen provides a provocative and eye-opening look at the culture of drinking through the lens of her own experience.

Review Quotes

"An unflinching narrative of one woman's journey to the bottom of her wine glass, over and over and over. " -- The Oregonian

"Holy mother of wine--finally a woman wrestles the story of what it is really like to be a woman away from what we've been told we are supposed to be. Kerry Cohen's Lush will light you up, crack you up, make you bawl, and most of all, allow you to breathe again. I'm beyond thrilled to read a book where a woman tells the truth without falling into the sap-hole of the sin-and-redemption narrative. There is no sin and redemption. There's just our lives, and as Cohen reminds us one truth bomb at a time, they are messily gorgeous. Move over Mary Karr." -- Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author of The Book of Joan and The Misfit's Manifesto

"I love this book. I am this book. Kerry Cohen has written a memoir that wrestles with the subtleties, the ambiguities, the sheer alluring horrifying real-life mess of mid-life alcohol addiction. For those of us wrestling with demons--and who isn't?--Lush is a solace as powerful as red wine." -- Claire Dederer, bestselling author of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses

"Kerry Cohen applies her legendary wit and sagacity to women's often subtly destructive dance with alcohol. With great vulnerability and dynamic prose, Cohen examines her own descent into the bottle, its ruinous consequences, and her courageous fight to find her footing in her real life again. This is a story you won't soon forget." -- Jillian Lauren, New York Times bestselling memoirist of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem and Everything You Ever Wanted

"Kerry Cohen has hit on something important that's rarely discussed -- how the everyday disappointment of middle-age can lead to abuses one never imagined as a teenager. Her voice bristles with both vulnerability and sass; her observations and analyses are razor-sharp. This is about drinking, but also about the simple anguish of being human. I guzzled Lush in one long gulp." -- Karen Karbo, author of The Gospel According to Coco Chanel and How Georgia Became O'Keeffe

"Raw, intimate and brave, Lush tears apart the usual advice about drinking and addiction (guess what, AA isn't the only answer), and chronicles Cohen's journey toward a healing that at first she can only image. Gorgeously written and audaciously intelligent, here is a controversial and compelling look at finding your own way back." -- Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

"Unapologetic in that it offers no trite "darkness to light" narrative about alcoholism, Cohen's book instead offers a sharp-eyed look at what it means to be a midlife female unable to cope with either personal demons or the heavy external social pressures placed on women. An intimate and unsparing book of self-reflection. " -- Kirkus Reviews