Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me
Written by Erin Khar
Narrated by Jayme Mattler
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
— New York Times Book Review
“This vital memoir will change how we look at the opioid crisis and how the media talks about it. A deeply moving and emotional read, STRUNG OUT challenges our preconceived ideas of what addiction looks like.”
—Stephanie Land, New York Times bestselling author of Maid
In this deeply personal and illuminating memoir about her fifteen-year struggle with heroin, Khar sheds profound light on the opioid crisis and gives a voice to the over two million people in America currently battling with this addiction.
Growing up in LA, Erin Khar hid behind a picture-perfect childhood filled with excellent grades, a popular group of friends and horseback riding. After first experimenting with her grandmother’s expired painkillers, Khar started using heroin when she was thirteen. The drug allowed her to escape from pressures to be perfect and suppress all the heavy feelings she couldn’t understand.
This fiercely honest memoir explores how heroin shaped every aspect of her life for the next fifteen years and details the various lies she told herself, and others, about her drug use. With enormous heart and wisdom, she shows how the shame and stigma surrounding addiction, which fuels denial and deceit, is so often what keeps addicts from getting help. There is no one path to recovery, and for Khar, it was in motherhood that she found the inner strength and self-forgiveness to quit heroin and fight for her life.
Strung Out is a life-affirming story of resilience while also a gripping investigation into the psychology of addiction and why people turn to opioids in the first place.
Erin Khar
Erin Khar's debut memoir, Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies that Nearly Killed Me, appeared on most anticipated lists from The Rumpus, SELF, Apple Books, Goodreads, Bitch Media, & others. The New York Times writes, “This is a story she needed to tell; and the rest of the country needs to listen.” She writes the popular advice column, Ask Erin. Her essays have appeared many places, including SELF, Marie Claire, Salon, HuffPost, The Rumpus, & Cosmopolitan.
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Reviews for Strung Out
34 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very honest and raw. The author has a real way with words.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing well written memoir. I never reached a point in the book where I felt like it dragged on. Which is rare for me. This book pulls you in and takes you on the Authors ride through the devastation of addiction. Definitely a must read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So amazing. A very raw and touching account of what addiction is really like.