Sober and Staying That Way : The Missing Link in the Cure for Alcoholism

by Susan Powter

Uses humor and personal stories of triumph to illustrate a lifesaving prescription for people with alcohol problems to help them overcome their addiction

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Susan Powter is a motivational speaker, dietitian, personal trainer, & author. She is an advocate of 'whole real foods'. She sets herself apart from others in her industry for many reasons - but mainly because she condemns the diet industry.

Reviews

[Heather Sneed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book that I never knew and I am in the medical field. It helped me understand the reactions from a loved one and now I can deal with my own feelings as I help him.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter trash. I spent many years working with people who had varied problems exaccerbated by their use of alcohol and/or drugs, I've undertaken years of academic research, I've been involved in small scale and major field studies, I've read sophisticated, informed and intelligent analyses of drug and alcohol abuse ... and I've also had to read a lot of books like this trash.
Alcoholism is not a disease, get that straight for a start (read "Problem Drinking" by Heather & Robertson, an excellent, readable account which dismantles the disease model)!
The author, here, comes across as a shouty, loud mouth who wants to be the centre of attention. There is not one shred of reasoned, scientific argument she is able to present. The book simply shouts ME, ME, ME. It is appallingly written, it's disjointed, her arguments are shambolic, it does really advertise her need for attention rather than any rational, coherently argued analysis of the problems people experience in drinking. It's simply ME, ME, ME - shout, shout, shout.
Her 'cure' - follow a diet ... fortunately she can sell you nutritional advice. Now there's a surprise.
Dire. Frankly, if I was ever going to advocate the burning of books, it would be for stuff like this.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the lady who became a fitness guru and later an alcoholic.
She is hyper, aggressive and always seems to be yelling.
Her mantra is that you can’t stay sober without proper nutrition, as it creates a physiological state which makes you drink again. Wow!!

Terrible writing

[Gato Negro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Susan Powter's writing is what I'd call jumpy, disjointed, and in the style of 'stream of consciousness', which I don't like unless it's exceptionally well done (and this is not.) It's hard to appreciate the content when the writing style overshadows the content in a distracting fashion.

[Karen Flatley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why but it bugs me when she keeps saying "I'm alcoholic.". What ever happened to the word "an"? As soon as she mentioned epileptics as being more worthy as a disease than her I was done.