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Smashed

About Me


I'm black and pink and read all over. I'm a book called "Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood."
In short:
a) I am a book that (for myspace purposes) likes to think of itself as a band.
b) I dwell in regular old bookstores (like Barnes & Noble and Borders), online (at Amazon.com), and in monuments of consumerism (like Target and Walmart).
c) I am 339 delightful pages.
d) I was born of a gal named Koren Zailckas.
Book Description:From earliest experimentation to habitual excess to full-blown abuse, twenty-four-year-old Koren Zailckas leads us through her experience of a terrifying trend among young girls, exploring how binge drinking becomes routine, how it becomes "the usual." With the stylistic freshness of a poet and the dramatic gifts of a novelist, Zailckas describes her first sip at fourteen, alcohol poisoning at sixteen, total disorientation after waking up in an unfamiliar New York City apartment at twenty-two, when she realized she had to stop, and all the depression, rage, troubled friendships, and sputtering romantic connections in between.
The New York Times: "Zailckas' memoir offers a mortifyingly credible story of smart young women doing stuporous things...Alcohol abuse may have plagued Koren's life, but it has jump-started her career."
Entertainment Weekly:"This might be one of the best accounts of addiction, let alone the college experience, or even what it means to be an average teenage girl in America..."
People: "The story's power lies not in Zailckas' crises but in her candor. Focusing less on the shock value of her experience than on how sadly common it is among her peers, she relays every detail of her desperation with subtle wit and refreshing insight."
Los Angeles Times Book Review: "Zailckas has an ear for wistful, unexpected prose, a skill with rhythm and language, a journalist's ambition to ground her story in statistics and research."
The Associated Press: "Even with all the studies on the topic, Smashed seems to offer the best examination of the relationship between women and alcohol in a clear and brilliant way. Zailckas' honest voice and journalistic eye for detail lift the veil off this lifestyle and show what a universal experience it can be for some women."
The Dallas Morning News: "Haunting...Zailckas is a talented new writer--and well worth watching and encouraging."
The Guardian:"It is a testament to Zailckas' hard, fast, clever writing that 'Smashed' grips from beginning to end."
Glamour: "This stand-out memoir goes beyond the story of Zailckas' wasted years. Cautionary tale, yes, but it reads like a thriller."

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 27/12/2004
Band Website: www.korenzailckas.com
Band Members: Koren Zailckas
Influences: Mary Karr, Vladimir Nabokov, Frank Conroy, Tobias Wolff, Michael Herr, Carlos Eire, Kathryn Harrison, Primo Levi, Pablo Neruda, Joan Didion, Lucy Grealy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Wright, Mary McCarthy, Laurie Lee, John Edgar Wideman, Nick Flynn, Anthony Swofford, Brad Land
Sounds Like: David Copperfield, only drunker

Record Label: Viking Penguin (US), Ebury Press (UK)
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

WANT KOREN Z. TO READ AT YOUR SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY?

Contact the good folks at the American Program Bureau!
Posted by on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 06:35:00 GMT

'Smashed' might've found a new paperback cover...

...
Posted by on Wed, 30 May 2007 07:04:00 GMT

'Thank you' is more than just a dreadful cover album by Duran Duran

...It's also something I've been meaning to lay, like the sloppiest kiss, on the following groups and individuals:Thank you to Syracuse University's class of 2007 for letting me write the foreword for...
Posted by on Sun, 13 May 2007 09:17:00 GMT

Tomorrow: Me + You = Lou

Dear brides & grooms,Just the briefest dispatch to say: I'll be chitty-chatting with Lou Dobbs tomorrow night (that's Wednesday), between 6 and 7 p.m. on CNN. Tune in if you dare! There's no tellin...
Posted by on Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:43:00 GMT

Telegraphically speaking...

Dear gangland,I apologize for being out of touch... I've been alternately slaving/slacking on book No. 2. And in between all the rigorous writing/drooly napping, I've realized I've been neglecting my...
Posted by on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 07:16:00 GMT

IDIOT BOX, PART II: In Which I Watch Geraldo Twirl His Mustache

Right, so... I have two funny things to report.Funny thing No. 1: I'm on Geraldo At Large tomorrow night (Fox, 6:30 PM). Tune in for the full freak show. I can all but guarantee that: a) Geraldo wi...
Posted by on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:00:00 GMT

IDIOT BOX, PART I: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric

Dear friends and neighbors,Tonight the idiot box gets even more idiotic...I'll be on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric @ 6:30 PM. Turn on. Tune in. See what happens when I give TV interviews witho...
Posted by on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:39:00 GMT

BLOGS, Wrapped in a Big, Red Xmas Bow

Dear smashlings--If you've been temporarily blind these past few weeks, you've missed my contributions to the swankiest music blog in town. (Oh, and you've also missed the Ballet's Greg Goldberg sugg...
Posted by on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:10:00 GMT

Make Merry!

Dear dirties,Get your callipygian asses over to Merry Swankster. Why? Because I'm blogging there. Why else? Because those swanksters have great taste in audible sounds.your ears will thank you,x K...
Posted by on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:38:00 GMT

Even 'Smashed' is Hotter in Italy

Dear sinners--Let me preface this by saying, I'm a Rosetta Stone dropout. Yes sir, when the past participles get tough, the tough toss language-learning CD-ROMs down the trash chute. Little wimp tha...
Posted by on Sun, 26 Nov 2006 19:03:00 GMT