Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol

Holly Whitaker

Dec 2019 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Holly Whitaker

About this audiobook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“You don’t know how much you need this book, or maybe you do. Either way, it will save your life.”—Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30 co-founder and CEO

The founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety.

We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol’s ubiquity—in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn’t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don’t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but.

When Holly Whitaker decided to seek help after one too many benders, she embarked on a journey that led not only to her own sobriety, but revealed the insidious role alcohol plays in our society and in the lives of women in particular. What’s more, she could not ignore the ways that alcohol companies were targeting women, just as the tobacco industry had successfully done generations before. Fueled by her own emerging feminism, she also realized that the predominant systems of recovery are archaic, patriarchal, and ineffective for the unique needs of women and other historically oppressed people—who don’t need to lose their egos and surrender to a male concept of God, as the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous state, but who need to cultivate a deeper understanding of their own identities and take control of their lives. When Holly found an alternate way out of her own addiction, she felt a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone questioning their relationship with drinking, so that they might find their way as well. Her resultant feminine-centric recovery program focuses on getting at the root causes that lead people to overindulge and provides the tools necessary to break the cycle of addiction, showing us what is possible when we remove alcohol and destroy our belief system around it.

Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You will never look at drinking the same way again.

Ratings and reviews

there were some points I was able to take away from this book. but it slowly unraveled into leftist, modern feministic blabber, perpetual victimhood brought on by the patriarchy, white cis males... she lost me completely with her story of putting her mom on the bus because she had put too much energy into the time she spent with her in washington for a few days.. a trip she had part in planning..she could have made less involved plans but didnt and then put her frail mom on a bus, to put her self first...for her recovery process.. utter BS. oh, then advises you to embrace your ego..just like some spoiled teenager. waste of money imo.

I loved reading this take on Sobriety. I have been through the program and had 18 months and a lot of what she says about AA was exactly how I felt. It worked until it didn't work anymore. The way she has a different perspective on what Sobriety looks like has been very eye opening and makes me feel like I'm not the only one feels like I need to conform to a program of powerlessness to stay sober. There are other ways to get there and the way she explains how women need to step into their power and gives tips on how to do it is helped me on my journey.

I used my Google credits to buy this and Im glad I didn't use my own money. I could not relate .I don't like not finishing a book I start so I listened to the whole thing.. Author blames patriarchy, social injustices and complains about Trump. Was hoping for more science instead I got the message that women are victims. Not for me , maybe its for someone else.