Smacked
A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy
-
- USD 5.99
-
- USD 5.99
Descripción editorial
A journalist pieces together the mysteries surrounding her ex-husband’s descent into drug addiction while trying to rebuild a life for her family, taking readers on an intimate journey into the world of white-collar drug abuse.
“A rare combination of journalistic rigor, personal courage, and writerly grace.”—Bill Clegg, author of Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man
Something was wrong with Peter. Eilene Zimmerman noticed that her ex-husband looked thin, seemed distracted, and was frequently absent from activities with their children. She thought he looked sick and needed to see a doctor, and indeed, he told her he had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Yet in many ways, Peter seemed to have it all: a beautiful house by the beach, expensive cars, and other luxuries that came with an affluent life. Eilene assumed his odd behavior was due to stress and overwork—he was a senior partner at a prominent law firm and had been working more than sixty hours a week for the last twenty years.
Although they were divorced, Eilene and Peter had been partners and friends for decades, so when she and her children were unable to reach Peter for several days, Eilene went to his house to see if he was OK.
So begins Smacked, a brilliant and moving memoir of Eilene’s shocking discovery, one that sets her on a journey to find out how a man she knew for nearly thirty years became a drug addict, hiding it so well that neither she nor anyone else in his life suspected what was happening. Eilene discovers that Peter led a secret life, one that started with pills and ended with opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamine. He was also addicted to work; the last call Peter ever made was to dial in to a conference call.
Eilene is determined to learn all she can about Peter’s hidden life, and also about drug addiction among ambitious, high-achieving professionals like him. Through extensive research and interviews, she presents a picture of drug dependence today in that moneyed, upwardly mobile world. She also embarks on a journey to re-create her life in the wake of loss, both of the person—and the relationship—that profoundly defined the woman she had become.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this moving and intimate memoir, Zimmerman, a former New York Times business columnist, shares the story of the unexpected overdose death of her ex-husband, Peter, an affluent senior partner at a prestigious law firm. She writes of being confounded how a man she knew for nearly 30 years became a drug addict and hid it so well that no one in his life suspected it. Offering a look at the white-collar drug epidemic, Zimmerman chronicles her plight to understand Peter's secret life: his addiction began with unprescribed pain pills and ended with opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Through extensive research, Zimmerman reveals that "the demands on a lawyer's life places them at a greater risk for depression, heart disease, alcoholism and illegal drug use" and that Peter's death was part of a much bigger social problem. In her most affecting chapter, "Better Living Through Chemistry," Zimmerman discusses the challenges that millennials and Gen Zers face as they begin their own white-collar futures in a world where the pressure to succeed is enormous and drugs are readily available. Zimmerman's wrenching story and her extensive research into the hidden crisis of white-collar drug addiction will resonate with many readers.
