My Name Is Davy, I'm an Alcoholic: A Novel

by Anne Snyder

Book by Snyder, Anne

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Anne Snyder was a prize-winning author of young-adult fiction whose novels confronted alcoholism, homelessness, sexuality and other real-life dilemmas

She was born in Boston and grew up in the blue-collar Jewish neighborhoods of Detroit. She attended high school in Detroit and later put herself through two years of college.

In 1949, after marrying and starting a family, she moved to Los Angeles, where she began her writing career. She wrote and directed plays for a Westchester theater group called Kentwood Players and for the City of Hope. She also studied creative writing at Los Angeles Valley College.

During the 1970s, she taught creative writing at Valley College and at Pierce College and Cal State Northridge.

Snyder also worked in television. She researched and wrote questions for the "Hollywood Squares" game show and contributed concepts and scripts for "General Hospital" and "The Lucille Ball Show."

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were to read this today I don't know that it would get 5 stars. However, I'm going to defer to my middle school self and let her rate this book. When I was in middle school I read this book MANY times. I loved everything about it-the tragedy, the lengthy title, the drama, and basically I loved any kind of problem novel that had a teen with some kind of "bad" secret, particularly drugs or alcohol. I guess it was so far from my own reality that I loved immersing myself in books about it.

[River Kischnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Name Is Davy, I'm an Alcoholic is a very inspirational book about having to deal with alcoholism. It shows all of the things Davy went through and what he had to do to get any alcohol he could get. It also has that teenage romance that is always in Young Adult Literature books. Davy meets another alcoholic named Maxi. They only friends they had were each other so they stayed together and did everything together, including drinking. They end up drinking too much one night and what happens that night changes Davy's life forever.
Davy ends up going to AA meetings (Alcoholic Anonymous). Davy thinks they aren't working so he stops going to them and he basically hits rock bottom. Sitting under a bridge with nothing but a bottle of alcohol, Davy realizes he needs to get his life together. He ends up going back to the AA meetings and he turns sober. My Name Is Davy, I'm an Alcoholic is a good book that teaches teenagers the dangerous things that alcohol can do to you or the dangerous things they do while under the influence of alcohol. I recommend this book to all teens and people who like action and suspense.

[Carl Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read “My Name is Davy, I’m an Alcoholic” by Anne Snyder. I enjoyed the book very much and could not put it down. I really liked how the characters developed throughout the story, and could relate certain situations to ones in my life. The story starts with Davy drinking all the time so that he can feel like he is accepted. He starts hanging around with the “cool” kids and will do whatever they say to fit in. He starts to drink even more and one night the guys try to get him to have sex with Maxi. He doesn't remember if he did or not because he passed out. However, Maxi and him become great friends that always drink together. One day they both get beat up trying to buy booze. For this reason they both decide to quit and attend meetings that help alcoholics. Maxi takes it very seriously, But Davy drinks when she is not around and insists he is not an alcoholic. One day they are walking on the beach and Davy convinces Maxi to drink. They both get really drunk, and when Davy wakes up he finds out that Maxi drowned and died. He then runs away from home and tries to start a new life.

The main character is Davy. He really doesn't change much throughout the story because he never gets away from his addiction. He is an alcoholic who believes the only way to make friends is by drinking, and ends up accidentally killing his girlfriend Maxi. Maxi is another main character. She changes a lot throughout the story. She becomes Davy’s girlfriend, decides to quit drinking and does, and ends up dying in the end because Davy was a bad influence on her.

The setting of the book is never specifically mentioned, but I believe that it takes place in a fairly large city. I can also conclude from the text that the book is set in the current time.

I believe that the idea the author was trying to get across was that once you start making bad decisions it takes control of your life. It showed how Davy’s mistakes cost Maxi her life and ultimately his own life as well. It is hard for me to make any personal connections to the reading, because I have never been in a situation similar to what Davy went through. However, I can use the book as a good example of what not to do in my life and use that to make better decisions.

I would give “My Name is Davy, I’m an Alcoholic” five out of five stars. The author kept making me want to read more and more. The vocabulary was easy and the book flowed very well. I would not recommend the book to anyone not in high school, because it does contain some topics not suitable for younger readers. I would recommend it to anyone else who enjoys a good book with lots of action and a good moral.

[Corey Schmidt]

I read the book “My Name Is Davy I’m An Alcoholic”. It's written by Anne Snyder. I thought it was a good book. I also thought it had a good meaning and could teach a lot of students about alcohol abuse.

The book is about a young boy named Davy. He doesn't have any friends and to make himself feel better he drinks. One day Davy spills a thermos full of booze on a kid named Mike. Mike realizes what it is and takes him to hang out with him and his friends. In this group he meets a girl named Maxine. They become good friends and even start dating throughout the book, but they both are alcoholics. All they do together is go out and drink and get in trouble. One day when Davy is trying to get some older men to buy him booze he gets beat up. That’s when they decided they need a change. They start attending AA meetings. Maxine loves them, but Davy starts to get annoyed and thinks they are stupid. He thinks he doesn't need them and can do it all on his own. After about a month of being sober they end up at a party together. Davy ends up getting drunk and eventually talks Maxine into it too. Maxine ends up getting really drunk and tries to go skinny dipping and drowns. Davy now feels more alone then ever and runs away. After awhile of being out on his own he eventually realizes he needs help and ends up back at the same AA meeting he started at.

The main characters of the book are Maxine and Davy. Davy is a quite young kids who just want to fit in somewhere. He also has problems at home, and to fix his problems he drinks. Maxine is a girl that Davy meets in the group he’s eventually accepted into. She’s a nice girl but gets made fun of in their group, because they think she is a whore.

The setting is not specifically mentioned, but you can gather it takes place in a larger town. It also takes place in the present time.

I thought it was a very good book. It kept me interested from beginning to end. The vocabulary wasn't hard at all and that made it easier to understand. It also has a very good meaning and teaches a very good lesson. I would recommend it to any high school student and any other adult. It does have a bit of adult content in it, so I wouldn't go younger than that. In all I would give it four out of five stars.

[Mr. Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is ridiculously unrealistic in today's times. Having been written in 1977, it seems outdated. It was supposed to be serious but I laughed at the absurdity of some scenes. Very different than Go Ask Alice, which doesn't seem outdated - even though it was written in 1971.

Anyhow, in case you haven't guessed from the title, Davy is an alcoholic. I suppose we're supposed to feel sympathy for him but I hated him and felt no sympathy for him. We only know him as a selfish, mean drunk. Perhaps if we knew him before he got into the alcohol, that would be different.

I wouldn't recommend this book to my worst enemy - even if s/he was an alcoholic like Davy.

[Brother Odd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good realistic book dealing with teenage alcoholism. It will discourage teens from drinking as it is never described as being glamorous. Teens who hate to read love this book. It's a shame that it's become so hard to find. It doesn't have the happy hollywood ending, which may be why some people haven't rated it higher, but it's a winner in my book.

[VANCE!!!!!!! Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

the plot of the book was good but it was interesting. I thought it was cool how they decided to stop drinking. Also how they went the AA meeting to help them stop drinking. It was weird though when they were having withdrawels from the alcohol.

If i was goin to give this book to someone to read i think i would give it to someone older. Becuase i think that they could of understood the book better if they werent in middle school. i would give it to girls and boys and even teachers. Also i would give it cause i thought it was a good book.

Davy didnt really care about what was going on around him all he cared about was the alcohol. and his girlfreind was actauly set on getting off of alcohol for good cuase she didnt want to drink at all anymore. but his parents had a fight and got divorced i think it would of been better if they wouldve stayed together.

[Kym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re reading this book, first time was when I was a teenager. It's inapropriate for young teens, more of a young adult or high school book. Quick read and a (good?) story about a 15 year old kid struggling with alcoholism.

[Erikka]

as good as this book was it is equal to the amount of suck the ending had. in short the book was great up until the ending whitch was sad,and confusing because it was told from the persepective of a guy who was drunk out of his mind

[John David]

coolcat awesome

[Hope]

This was the very first non-children's book I ever read. It was also the first book that so enthralled me I couldn't sleep until I finished it.

[Claire Baire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful book that describes the consequences of teenage drinking...a MUST read for those a fan of Dramas and Tearjerkers!

[Kenneth Peterson jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a good book. written well. and depicts of the things that could happen when under the influence

[Brittni Constans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as a teenager and read the whole thing with my sister in one day, we both couldn't put it down. Good book.

[Wallis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in ninth grade, and I remember the one thing that surprised me most was that people were more likely to become depressed and drink during the holidays. It seems obvious now, but it was an eye opener at the time.

[Jordan Janski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good book

[Ryan Rodrigues · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book as a Freshman in high school. I was in a reading class which basically was just a class where we were told to go to the library, pick up a book, and read. I clumsily picked this book up because I liked the title and the dilapidated late 70s era cover. This book was unlike most books that I attempted to read at the time such as Edgar Allen Poe books or similar angsty victorian era writers, that wrote far above my comprehension level. This was very easy to read, inviting, and captivating. In fact, I was so captivated by it that I finished it in 2 days. Aside from it using an inviting straightforward writing style my enjoyment of this book came from the fact that I could relate a lot. I had only been drinking on a few occasions at this point in my life but I knew I loved it too much already. Looking back on it, it was a cute, quick, read that was very relatable but not very profound. This is akin to a well-done 'scared straight' propaganda that probably won't have its desired effect on the young reader. This author probably got a lot out of the program herself and wanted to exercise her 12th step to the best of her ability.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book multiple times as a child. I must have been in middle school. I don't remember much of the story, just my obsession with it.