Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster by Kristen Johnston is an excellent #QUITLIT recovery memoir to add to your home library or must-read list. This two-time Emmy Award winner will take you from tears of laughter to tears of pain. This sober gal truly spills her guts as she recounts the final days and weeks in London that led to her start of her journey in recovery.
Maybe you know her from her famous role as Sally Solomon in “3rd Rock from the Sun”. Perhaps you recognize Johnston from that episode in Sex & the City where she played a washed up party-girl that tragically falls to her death through a high rise window. As you settle in with her story, you will get to know her in a very raw and very real way.
Dark Night of the Soul
In Johnston’s own words…”I’m convinced that the only people worth knowing are those who’ve had at least one dark night of the soul. Now, a dark night of the soul is completely different from simply having a bad night.” She went on describe it like this. “Recovering addicts and alcoholics sometimes refer to this as their “bottom”, but it happens to almost everyone, at some point or another. It’s that life-changing moment when everything you’ve always wanted to become, everything you actually are, and everything you know you’ll never be, all slam into each other with the deadly force of three high-speed trains. It’s the night of your reckoning, the terrifying moment when your mask falls away and you’re forced to see what’s actually been festering underneath it all these years. You finally see who you really are, instead of who you’ve always pretended to be.”
Why You Should Read This Memoir
If you have experienced this darkness, then you will have no problem relating to Johnston’s story. I first discovered that she was sober when watching the documentary “The Anonymous People”. Johnson has been actively recovering “out loud” and advocating for the recovery community for many years now. Moved by what I saw about her in this film, I quickly had to #ADDTOCART her memoir on Amazon Prime. Johnston’s story does an incredible job of balancing between the humor and pain of what life is like in active addiction.
The Sobees #QUITLIT Score: 4 out of 5
Movie Night with The Sober Curator: The Anonymous People, an independent feature documentary about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. QUIT-LIT is our curated list of addiction and recovery book reviews. From addiction and recovery memoirs to fiction and self-help, we believe all Sober Curators should be well-read. You can also find us on Goodreads here. What’s on your nightstand? We want to hear about what you’re reading right now and the addiction and recovery books you can’t live without. Email us at thesobercurator@gmail.com
A Disco Ball is Hundreds of Pieces of Broken Glass, Put Together to Make a Magical Ball of Light. You are NOT Broken, Friend. You are a DISCO BALL!
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