What the World Needs Now...

Is not another addiction memoir.

As you can tell from my last two posts, my reading of late hasn't exactly been fun. I read a book about the epidemic of slum sprawl and a book about the most pervasive killing machine in the world. Both of them important, well-written, well-argued books. But not exactly a barrel of laughs.

So I went to the bookstore in search of something enjoyable. Something a bit light-hearted, maybe something that could produce a chuckle or two. And what I saw piled high were more addiction memoirs. These might have been completely worthwhile books. Admittedly, I haven't read them. But I've read more than my share of addiction memoirs and I just wonder what there is left to be said on the subject.

Are these like murder mysteries or romance novels? Is there some audience out there ravenous for addiction memoirs? Are there people who show up at the bookstore, jonesing (pardon the pun), and saying, "When are you getting some new addiction memoirs in? I've read all these."

I can't imagine pitching one of these books to an agent or editor. How can you possibly make your addiction story different than all the other addiction stories? Every one of the dust jackets use the same words of redemption, recovery, strength, uplifting, struggle, and overcome. But yet I guess authors do manage this feat because the books keep appearing.

I've been very lucky and blessed in my life and my family. Maybe I'm a bit clueless as to the draw of addiction memoir after addiction memoir after addiction memoir because I haven't had to deal with these issues in my own life. My mother smoked for thirty years and that was a big problem in our family. She had a heart attack, quit cold turkey, and never lit another one. But that was the extent of addiction problems in our family. My own personal struggles have been limited to a 6-pack-a-day (minimum, because I've been known to go through a two liter in about an hour during a binge) habit of Mt. Dew.

Maybe that's the answer. Instead of wondering why each week a new addiction memoir appears, maybe I should join the trend. I'll start pitching my own book! Keep an eye out for I Did the Dew: A Memoir of Carbohydrates coming soon to a bookstore near you!