Wasted Tales Of A Young Drunk

The book at the center of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. Mark Judge describes in vivid detail the privileged milieu in which he and his classmate and friend Brett Kavanaugh were raised and fast times at their all-male preparatory school - benders, blackouts, and hookups. Judge candidly chronicles the twists and turns of his downward spiral into alcoholism. "It soon became obvious," he writes, "that drinking was one of the major forms of recreation at Prep. On Monday morning, the upperclassmen would return from the weekend with stories about keg parties, girls, and hours spent in bars in Georgetown. . . . At Prep, seniors would often go directly from class to a bar. They would even drink with alumni at football games." Cynicism and black humor underscore this hard-edged memoir of a young journalist's alcoholism and subsequent recovery.

With his trademark Rock 'N Roll hair and snakeskin spandex pants, plus a hot rod and a Harley, Lüc Carl fit the part as a bar manager based in New York City's gritty Lower East Side. And life was good for this Omaha, Nebraska, transplant—a talented drummer who originally moved to the big city to pursue his Rock 'N Roll dreams—until, suddenly, it wasn't. Fast forward through seven years of working long hours, bingeing on late-night Chinese food, and drinking excessively; life had found Lüc forty pounds overweight and completely out of shape. But when he turned to the "experts" for advice—reading countless fitness and weight-loss books in the process—he discovered that they all made the same claim: "You can't drink alcohol if you want to lose weight." Lüc decided to take matters into his own hands to transform his body and his life his way—a sort of "f*ck you" to all those so-called experts. Full of charismatic wit and raucous stories about his life, The Drunk Diet will inspire and challenge you to become fitter, healthier, and happier. Lüc's fitness philosophy isn't about following a list of rigid rules or traditional "do this, not that" charts, but gaining a better understanding of how the body works and discovering what you're personally willing to change about your lifestyle in order to reach your goals. For him, that meant trading in the crap he was eating for unprocessed, natural foods and embracing a newfound love for exercise, but never sacrificing his social life (or his love for cold beer). This is the story of how one chain-smoking, cheeseburger-eating, hard-partying Rock 'N Roller—a self-proclaimed "out-of-shape, bloated asshole"—grew into an avid runner and cyclist and, ultimately, a happier version of himself. He will be the first to tell you: If he could do it, so can you.

In 2009 Elspeth Muir’s youngest brother, Alexander, finished his last university exam and went out with some mates on the town. Later that night he wandered to the Story Bridge. He put his phone, wallet, T-shirt and thongs on the walkway, climbed over the railing, and jumped thirty metres into the Brisbane River below. Three days passed before police divers pulled his body out of the water. When Alexander had drowned, his blood-alcohol reading was almost five times the legal limit for driving. Why do some of us drink so much, and what happens when we do? Fewer young Australians are drinking heavily, but the rates of alcohol abuse and associated problems—from blackouts to sexual assaults and one-punch killings—are undiminished. Intimate and beautifully told, Wasted illuminates the sorrows, and the joys, of drinking. Elspeth Muir is a Brisbane author whose writing has appeared in the Lifted Brow, The Best of the Lifted Brow: Volume One, Griffith Review, Voiceworks and Bumf. She is a postgraduate student at the University of Queensland. ‘Deeply personal and unflinchingly honest, Muir’s debut book is among the best long-form explorations of how and why some Australians drink alcohol to excess...It is a striking work and among the strongest debut books I have read.’ Australian ‘Intricately crafted...An intimate portrait of a grieving family and a nation unable to reconcile itself to the harmful effects of its drinking culture...Reminiscent of writers such as Chloe Hooper and Helen Garner...This book will help you think critically and compassionately about those who seek solace in alcohol.’ Books + Publishing ‘Wasted barrels headfirst into the alcohol-soaked heart of Australia to report on our fraught love affair with drinking.’ Liam Pieper ‘There is no lapse in urgency in Wasted; this conversation is a crucial one to have. Five stars.’ Good Reading ‘The prose style of this unheralded writer...is so achingly beautiful and assured, Helen Garner might be pleased to hand her the keys to the creative nonfiction kingdom and ride off into the Carlton sunset.’ Saturday Paper ‘[Muir] gifts readers gorgeously evocative passages which convey a depth of emotion...Wasted is a haunting read.’ Readings ‘Elspeth writes beautifully and honestly, documenting the shocking loss...in such heartbreaking circumstances.’ Mamamia ‘[Muir] concludes of her brother’s death, “What a waste of a life that was.” Yet by determinedly documenting the drinking culture that coddled him, she has opened vital new lines of enquiry into our duty of care towards drinkers. It’s a tragedy, but now, not entirely a waste.’ Lifted Brow ‘Interweaving brilliant reportage with memoir, Wasted delves into Australia’s complicated relationship with alcohol...Timely and eye-opening.’ Canberra Weekly ‘The strongest new Australian voice I’ve come across this year.’ Readings, Our Favourite Books of 2016 (so far) ‘Wasted is a book that every New Zealander and Australian needs to read...If I had my way, I’d give this to everyone in their last year of high school, and their parents too.’ Booksellers New Zealand ‘Elspeth Muir’s memoir begins after her younger brother’s night of heavy drinking culminates with him jumping from a bridge and drowning in the Brisbane River. Her handling of the subject is, by turn, heartbreaking, evocative and, in parts, refreshingly weird, and her assured voice makes this a sobering read.’ Best Non-Fiction Books of 2016, Readings ’This devastating personal story of loss and grief is also an unflinching examination of the damaging drinking habits of young Australians, and of a society that not only permits, but encourages them.’ Junkee

Berlin Tales is a collection of seventeen translated stories associated with Berlin. The book provides a unique insight into the mind of this fascinating city through the eyes of its story-tellers. Nearly twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the stories collected here reflect on the city's fascinating recent history, setting out with the early twentieth-century Berlin of Siegfried Kracauer and Alfred Döblin and culminating in an excellent selection of stories from the best of the new voices in the current boom in German fiction. They are chosen for their conscious exploration of the city's image, meaning, and attraction to immigrants and tourists as well as Berliners from both sides of the Wall. These stories also depict Berlin's distinct districts, not just the differences between East and West but also iconic sites such as Alexanderplatz, individual neighbourhoods (Jewish Mitte, Turkish Kreuzberg) and individual streets. There is an introduction and notes to accompany the stories and a selection of Further Reading. Each story is illustrated with a striking photograph and there is a map of Berlin and its transport system (a frequent motif). There is an introduction and notes to accompany the stories and a selection of Further Reading. The book will appeal to people who love travelling or are armchair travellers, as much as to those who love Berlin.

If you loved reading the mesmerising tale of Daisy and Simon's marriage and secrets in Just My Luck from No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks, you won't want to miss Lucy, Rose and Connie's story in Young Wives' Tales. Don't miss Adele's latest gripping novel, Both of You, out now! And look for One Last Secret, coming soon. ......................................... WHAT HAPPENS AFTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER? Young Wives' Tales is the stylish, insightful sequel to Playing Away. Lucy, Rose and Connie are back in a novel which is every bit as addictive as Adele's debut bestseller and follows the friends' fortunes in their new roles as wives, mothers and lovers with plenty of surprises along the way... Rose thought she had it all, but her perfect life crumbled when her so-called friend seduced her husband and destroyed her marriage. Now Rose is left without any passion, romance or plans for the future... Lucy believed she finally had her fairy-tale ending, but being the wife isn't half as glamorous as being the mistress. When excitement and thrills give way to more chat about cleaning and the kids, it's not very...her. They desperately envy Connie: happily married, effortlessly juggling two children and a fulfilling career. Connie has found genuine contentment. Until, that is, a dangerous old flame flickers back into view... Will she be tempted to play with fire again? ......................................... What readers are saying about Young Wives' Tales: 'Adele has a knack for putting her finger on our fears and vulnerabilities, our dark sides, our hopes and expectations in love and friendship, and keeping the characters 'human'. Her language is quick, sharp and thoroughly engrossing' 'Loved it! The writing style is quirky and funny - I couldn't put it down. I would say that this is one of Parks' best books in a long time'

Up to the current day, matters of sexual morality—including contraception, abortion, premarital sex, and gay marriage—have polarized the Catholic Church. In the wake of the turmoil of the 1960s, when liberal theologians challenged the Church’s traditional views on the subject, a schism has opened. Much of the world, and many Catholics themselves, believe that the views of each camp are clear and well defined. As Mark Judge reveals in this trenchant and illuminating defense of the teachings of his Church, this is far from the case. Without sensationalism, Judge is candid here about his personal journey from the playgrounds of the sexual revolution to his eventual belief in the need to combine sexuality with love and commitment to another person, not as an end in itself but rather as a particularly direct means of opening oneself up to God’s love. He also sees support for the Christian theology on love in a seemingly unlikely place: rock music. He delves into the Church’s teachings on sexual matters, going back to the time of Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John of the Cross, and Pope John Paul II while also acquainting us with more contemporary voices from within the Church—as well as from the pop charts.

A man who sleeps for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains wakes to a much-changed world.

My Misspent Youth is an incisive collection that marked the start of a new millennium and became a cult classic, from the editor of Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed and the author of The Unspeakable An essayist in the tradition of Joan Didion, Meghan Daum is one of the most celebrated nonfiction writers of her generation, widely recognized for her fresh, provocative approach with which she unearths the hidden fault lines in the American landscape. From her well remembered New Yorker essays about the financial demands of big-city ambition and the ethereal, strangely old-fashioned allure of cyber-relationships to her dazzlingly hilarious riff in Harper's about musical passions that give way to middle-brow paraphernalia, Daum delves into the center of things while closely examining the detritus that spills out along the way. With precision and well-balanced irony, Daum implicates herself as readily as she does the targets that fascinate and horrify her.