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How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery
From The New York Times bestselling author of By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There and Party Girl comes an uproarious and gritty read which shows no matter how dark it gets, the light can always show through the cracks. Anna David was, in every way, groomed for success. She grew up in an affluent community and came from a family that prioritized SAT scores, Harvard attendance and high-paying jobs. The problem was, she had low SAT scores, was rejected by Harvard and spent her early life feeling like the family’s great disappointment. Concluding that success was not for her, Anna focused her energies on an area where she drugs, alcohol and general mayhem. Washing ashore on the beaches of recovery at the age of 30, she begrudgingly entered a world of sobriety. That’s when she discovered that there were all sorts of ways to define success—and what’s more, that it was never too late to find it. The stories in this collection document her journey from self-indulgent party girl to sober and only semi-indulgent woman. By turns hilarious and touching, disturbing and ridiculous, How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life proves that you truly can f*ck up your way to the top.
- GenresAddiction
190 pages, Paperback
Published March 2, 2019
45 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Anna David
55 books138 followersAnna David is a New York Times bestselling author of eight books and the founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, a boutique book publishing company trusted by high-income entrepreneurs to build seven-figure authority.
A three-time TEDx speaker, she has appeared on Good Morning America, Today Show, The Talk and dozens of other programs.
Anna has also written for the New York Times, Time, Playboy, Vanity Fair and the Huffington Post, among many others, and been written about in such publications as Entrepreneur, Martha Stewart magazine and Forbes.
Her first novel, Party Girl, is in development as a feature film and she's the on-air book critic for KATU Portland. Her company has published over 50 books, many of which have become Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestsellers.
She lives in Hollywood with her boyfriend, filmmaker Jim Agnew, their son Benjamin and their cranky-looking cat Bernie.
A three-time TEDx speaker, she has appeared on Good Morning America, Today Show, The Talk and dozens of other programs.
Anna has also written for the New York Times, Time, Playboy, Vanity Fair and the Huffington Post, among many others, and been written about in such publications as Entrepreneur, Martha Stewart magazine and Forbes.
Her first novel, Party Girl, is in development as a feature film and she's the on-air book critic for KATU Portland. Her company has published over 50 books, many of which have become Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestsellers.
She lives in Hollywood with her boyfriend, filmmaker Jim Agnew, their son Benjamin and their cranky-looking cat Bernie.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 21, 2019
Authentic, entertaining and eye opening. Anna David has wrote fantastic essays on the before, during and after of her addiction and recovery, some more heartbreaking than the last but you feel proud to have travelled the journey with her. A brilliant read for anyone.
March 4, 2019
Anyone who knows me knows that I have an adult son who has struggled on and off with severe depression and addiction for more than a dozen years. I don’t try to hide that from anybody. In fact, my son’s issues inspired me to become a recovery and mental health advocate. Along the way, I’ve read just about every book on addiction and recovery I’ve been able to get my hands on, including countless memoirs and self-help books by people in recovery. And I have to say, “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction & Recovery” by Anna David is one of the best I’ve read.
David is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel “Party Girl,” a semi-autobiographical tale about a celebrity journalist who falls victim to a world of drugs, alcohol, and sex, which leads to self-destruction before she finally finds sobriety. While “Party Girl” may have been classified as fiction, “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life” is 100 percent authentic.
In David’s latest book, she shares essays that document her struggles with addiction and her journey to recovery. The essays, which are brutally honest and oftentimes laugh-out-loud hilarious, are grouped into three sections: What It Was Like [Pre-Sobriety], What Happened [Early Sobriety], and What It’s Like Now [Today]. This format allows the reader to ride along and witness first-hand the progress David made on her road to sobriety (potholes and all). And while the essays alone make this book highly entertaining and educational, David goes a step further and includes a value-added twist to the end of each one.
Personally, I think the “Lesson Learned” feature that appears after each essay is the absolute best part of “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life.” This is where David shines the brightest, taking the frequently negative experiences of her addiction/recovery journey and reframing them into a positive lesson that she, and others, can use to improve life going forward.
For example, in the essay entitled “What Addiction Sounded Like,” David talks about how cocaine, the drug that once kept the party going all night long for her, had betrayed her. “It made me unable to do anything but sit in front of my computer and shake,” she reveals. And while sitting in front of her computer, trying to write, the computer would emit an annoying “BEEP!” every 60 seconds. “I lived in fear of the beep,” David confesses. “It somehow symbolized just how bad things were.” At the end of the essay, David shares her lesson learned—“Remember the Bad Times (So You Don’t Repeat Them)”—and provides the reader with some insightful words of wisdom.
Anna David is a gifted, intelligent, funny writer, and this collection of essays shows us that a person can make mistakes in life—BIG mistakes—and still find success and contentment. As she says in the Introduction, David hasn’t followed “the typical paths. But at this point in my life I can honestly say I feel successful on all levels…not just with what I’ve achieved but with how I *feel* about what I’ve achieved, not to mention how I feel about what I *haven’t* achieved.” That’s not a bad place to be, and I’m guessing most people would be incredibly happy to feel the same way. Reading “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life” might just help them get there.
David is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel “Party Girl,” a semi-autobiographical tale about a celebrity journalist who falls victim to a world of drugs, alcohol, and sex, which leads to self-destruction before she finally finds sobriety. While “Party Girl” may have been classified as fiction, “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life” is 100 percent authentic.
In David’s latest book, she shares essays that document her struggles with addiction and her journey to recovery. The essays, which are brutally honest and oftentimes laugh-out-loud hilarious, are grouped into three sections: What It Was Like [Pre-Sobriety], What Happened [Early Sobriety], and What It’s Like Now [Today]. This format allows the reader to ride along and witness first-hand the progress David made on her road to sobriety (potholes and all). And while the essays alone make this book highly entertaining and educational, David goes a step further and includes a value-added twist to the end of each one.
Personally, I think the “Lesson Learned” feature that appears after each essay is the absolute best part of “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life.” This is where David shines the brightest, taking the frequently negative experiences of her addiction/recovery journey and reframing them into a positive lesson that she, and others, can use to improve life going forward.
For example, in the essay entitled “What Addiction Sounded Like,” David talks about how cocaine, the drug that once kept the party going all night long for her, had betrayed her. “It made me unable to do anything but sit in front of my computer and shake,” she reveals. And while sitting in front of her computer, trying to write, the computer would emit an annoying “BEEP!” every 60 seconds. “I lived in fear of the beep,” David confesses. “It somehow symbolized just how bad things were.” At the end of the essay, David shares her lesson learned—“Remember the Bad Times (So You Don’t Repeat Them)”—and provides the reader with some insightful words of wisdom.
Anna David is a gifted, intelligent, funny writer, and this collection of essays shows us that a person can make mistakes in life—BIG mistakes—and still find success and contentment. As she says in the Introduction, David hasn’t followed “the typical paths. But at this point in my life I can honestly say I feel successful on all levels…not just with what I’ve achieved but with how I *feel* about what I’ve achieved, not to mention how I feel about what I *haven’t* achieved.” That’s not a bad place to be, and I’m guessing most people would be incredibly happy to feel the same way. Reading “How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life” might just help them get there.
March 4, 2019
Anna David speaks both for a generation and a group of people who's voices often struggle to be heard let alone paid attention to by society. As a Gen Xer she's young enough to still be able to connect with Hipsters yet old enough to bring the clarity hindsight and reflection have to offer. Anna draws you into her world in a manner reminiscent of Spalding Gray. That is she's not afraid to take you to the darker places of her life. And it gets really dark at times. Her goal being to shed light so that others can latch onto that light to give themselves both hope and potentially a constructive way forward and possibly even out of that darkness. But she also shares these tales with both the wit and humor of Bill Bryson. She often takes the reader to parts unknown both to Anna and the reader to illuminate the absurdities life often presents to us as Anna shares her youthful indiscretions. If you're looking for a roadmap out of a series of bad decisions or just want to laugh out loud as you look over Anna's shoulder then don't hesitate to indulge yourself in this equal parts dark and light read!
March 4, 2019
Authentic, humorous, and infused with hope.
How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life is full of real-life stories pulled from Anna’s tumultuous journey from addiction into recovery. Anna’s ability to laugh at herself and share what she’s learned from her mistakes and mishaps gives us, as readers, freedom to do the same. The book offers a great balance of humor along with insightful takeaways.
Specifically, I really enjoyed the author’s thoughts about fear, sponsorship, and depression. These particular essays served as beautiful reminders that we never “arrive” in recovery or “graduate.” Rather, life brings us new opportunities to grow, heal, and recover one day at a time, for a lifetime.
How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life is full of real-life stories pulled from Anna’s tumultuous journey from addiction into recovery. Anna’s ability to laugh at herself and share what she’s learned from her mistakes and mishaps gives us, as readers, freedom to do the same. The book offers a great balance of humor along with insightful takeaways.
Specifically, I really enjoyed the author’s thoughts about fear, sponsorship, and depression. These particular essays served as beautiful reminders that we never “arrive” in recovery or “graduate.” Rather, life brings us new opportunities to grow, heal, and recover one day at a time, for a lifetime.
March 4, 2019
Anna's essays in her latest book will strike a chord with anyone who is either dealing with addiction issues personally or is interested in learning more about what it is really like to get sober- the good and the bad. Recovery is no laughing matter and readers of this book will find solace in knowing that suffering from addiction can happen to anyone, rich or poor, short or tall, etc., and that there can be a way out for all of us. Anna continues to be a presence and a leader in the recovery community and for that and for this book I am grateful.
April 16, 2019
I love memoirs about how people got sober, what I hate about memoirs about how people got sober is when 95% of the book is about their years of using and 5% of getting sober and staying sober. This memoir is not like this! The first third of the book is about David’s using years, the next third was about getting sober, and the last third was about staying sober for the long term. Anna David’s writing is funny and witty and very poignant.
March 4, 2019
Another great book by Anna David! I love the flow of Anna’s words as she describes her experience with addiction and then recovery. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick, fun, and informative read. Explaining things in such a manner that I felt I was right next to her and along for the ride!
March 5, 2019
Powerful book filled with short stories relating to addiction that are used to illustrate a valuable life lesson for anyone in recovery or not or knows someone in recovery. Enjoyable readable well written book that is broken up into short stories making it hard to put down.
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March 5, 2019
This was excellent!! Bringing light, humour and lessons learned to really important topics in today's world that are frequently misunderstood. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and highly recommend it.
June 10, 2019
Wow. This author has written more of a memoir of messing up her life than giving advice. If you want to read a book about a smart woman who decided to do drugs instead of working hard and going to a lesser college,then read this.
June 12, 2019
Hmmmmm. Well as a memoir it was pretty interesting. But I do feel that it could have perhaps been written a little bit better to make it a little more enjoyable.
July 19, 2019
This book is one for your life. No matter where you are in your life you need to pick it up. I wish I had read this book sooner.
July 21, 2019
Good not great.
July 21, 2022
Quite interesting and well written. Easy read!
March 4, 2019
Anna David’s book, How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life, is funny, endearing, and refreshingly honest. Sharing her stories in the only way she knows, Anna bridges the gap from being aimless and lost to having meaning and purpose.
While these are her stories, her experiences, the strength and hope is there for us hold onto. There are unique lessons in these essays that are relevant in any life, especially those coming out of the fog and isolation of addiction and/or alcoholism.
While these are her stories, her experiences, the strength and hope is there for us hold onto. There are unique lessons in these essays that are relevant in any life, especially those coming out of the fog and isolation of addiction and/or alcoholism.
March 5, 2019
GreatRead! 💥
March 4, 2019
Verified Purchase
Format: Kindle Edition
Anna David's book "How to get successful by F*cking Up Your Life" is a no holds barred, honest, unashamed depiction of the struggles of addiction and recovery. I loved the humor that was entwined with the sadness. Very good, easy read.
March 4, 2019
Verified Purchase
Format: Kindle Edition
Anna David's book "How to get successful by F*cking Up Your Life" is a no holds barred, honest, unashamed depiction of the struggles of addiction and recovery. I loved the humor that was entwined with the sadness. Very good, easy read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews