Smashed: Story Of A Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood is Koren Zailckas' account of life as an alcoholic. It traces her life from her first drink, when she was fourteen, to her last, at twenty-two; Smashed chronicles Zailckas' struggle with alcohol abuse, in an effort to explain the binge drinking phenomenon that plagues America's youth.

When Koren was fourteen her friend Natalie found a bottle of Whiskey at Natalie's parents' cabin. This would be her first experience, of many, with alcohol. Later that day she and Natalie went to a birthday party; they took plastic apple juice bottles and filled them with Southern Comfort whiskey for the party. They ended up sharing it with most of the people there. This exposed that she was drinking to all of her friends.

The next year in High School she did not have many friends. One of the few people who appreciated her company was a girl named Billie. It was with Billie that she got drunk for the first time. It was on Halloween.

She later wrote to her pen pal, including this experience in her letter. Her pen pal did not appreciate the fact that Koren had been drinking. She wrote back,

"Koren,

I got your letter. By ‘smashed' I can only assume you meant you were drunk, which is not only not cool, it is disgusting, as is the fact that you thought I'd be interested in hearing about it. Do you have any idea how many people die each year from drunk driving? It's 18,000. I know because I'm in Students Against Drunk Driving (S.A.D.D.) here at Montgomery High School. There was a senior here who died drunk driving. Did you know that by the time you graduate from high school at least two people in your class will be dead? Do you really want to take the risk that you will be...

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...with my first blackout, or my first drunken tumble, or my first stomach pumping. But these occurred at home or at college, where my drinking felt insulated, and I had the illusion of safety."

It was after this incident that Koren knew drinking was greatly affecting her life. So she wrote to a distant addiction counselor. He said that she was an "alcohol abuser" not an alcoholic. Meaning she can stop at anytime. He still recommended the twelve step program with Alcoholics Anonymous.

Even after all of this Koren continued to drink for a while because she felt that she needed it to socialize with people.

In the end it seems as though there is no real moral or lesson to be learned. She wasn't really an addict; she just liked to drink. No long recovery, no epiphany. No treatment, no withdrawal problems. No lasting health issues. No real permanent problems in the end.