It would be really easy to simply gloss over the pivotal, seeping role of alcoholism in this book, being as it is, a truly gripping murder story. And yet, the psychological terror of the book is informed by the dual psychosis of its main characters, one of whom is a young man, an alcoholic who seems intent on destroying his organs as quickly as possible. Bruno\u2019s complete lack of contact with reality makes his alcoholism seemingly beside the point, but as the story progresses, I find my sympathies shifting as Bruno becomes more and more helplessly imprisoned by his disease.<\/p>\n
Ditlevsen\u2019s trilogy, by contrast, plunges us into the perspective of a succession of her former selves. When she\u2019s a child, we\u2019re presented with the world as a child might see it. When she\u2019s hooked on Demetrol, we perceive events through the distorted viewpoint of an addict. This is the kind of myopic or unreliable narrator we encounter frequently in novels \u2013 conspicuously na\u00efve or self-delusive, and unchaperoned by a consolingly wise authorial presence\u2014but almost never in memoir.<\/p>\n
With the actor\u2019s encouragement, Stern also recorded hundreds of hours worth of interviews with his friends, family, and colleagues. The whole enterprise was destined to become Newman\u2019s authorized biography, but his feelings on the project soured; in 1998, he gathered the tapes in a pile and set fire to them. Now, those transcripts have been streamlined into this honest and unvarnished memoir, in which the actor speaks openly about his traumatic childhood, his lifelong struggle with alcoholism, and his tormenting self-doubt. This is a lesser known series of essays on the intersection of alcohol and womanhood. The author, Kristi Coulter, engages the reader with her deep insight and quick wit.<\/p>\n