Smashed Story Of A Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas Essay

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 Americas youth. When Koren was fourteen her friend Natalie found a bottle of Whiskey at Natalies 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†¦show more content†¦I think you should really think about what you are doing. In the meantime, I dont know if I want to keep exchanging letters because I just dont want to hear about it. Maybe one day I will trust you again. Margaret P.S. Enclosed is a poem I think you should read. Koren was upset the most by the fact that her fondness of drinking, somehow, caused her to lose the trust of her distant friend. She replied to her pen pal with a poem by E.E. Cummings, Since feeling is first Who pays attention To the syntax of things Will never wholly kiss you: Wholly to be a fool While Spring is in the world. This showed that Koren did not care about other peoples opinions about her problems. She thought that nothing bad would ever come out of drinking. She was wrong. That summer, for the first time, her parents caught her drinking. She was on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland with her family and her friend Natalie. They went for two reasons. They went because her father had received a raise from the technological corporation he works at, and she had torn a ligament in her knee from falling down the stairs. Koren and Natalie went to a Pizza Palace and asked an employee where the college parties were. Later they snuck out of the condo and down the street to a trolley stop. The trolley took them to a beach a couple miles away where they were offered beer and drugs from the people at the party. Koren and Natalie went to a collegeShow MoreRelatedKoren Zailckas, The Author Of Smashed: Story Of A Drunken1532 Words   |  7 PagesKoren Zailckas, the author of Smashe d: Story of a Drunken Girlhood (2005), is a 37 year-old Caucasian female who was born to a Catholic, middle-class family in 1980 (Zailckas, 2005, p. xiii). Zailckas grew up on the Northeast side of the United States with her mother, father, and sister who is five years younger than her—none of whom, according to her, have a history of alcoholism (p. xiv). Zailckas, however, recounts starting to drink as early as the age of fourteen and continuing to do so throughoutRead MoreThe Zailckas Smashed : A Story Of A Drunken Girlhood1465 Words   |  6 Pages I decided to write my final paper on Koren Zailckas Smashed: A Story of a Drunken Girlhood. A memoir based on a young 14 year old girl who drinks for the first time with her friend Natalie before a birthday party. Her experiences with alcohol doesn’t stop there. We learn that she gets her stomach pumped at age 16, and at age 22, wakes up in an apartment in New York City unsure of where she is, because of alcohol. After t his, she realizes that she has a problem and that she needs help. I chose this