Synopses & Reviews
An alcoholic on awakening is much like a newborn babyfragile and without any defense against a very sober world. September Remember begins with a terrifyingand darkly funny blackoutthe sort of a blackout that pulls you right into the mind of a drunk on the loose. Reading it, I was reminded of my AA friend picking me up in his truck, the uncertainty of that boozy hazy evening. The blackout is not the story of
September Remember, but its that darkness that will suck you into this story.
When published, September Remember was a best seller, and the first known novel that put AA into literary consciousness. Its been out of print now for over 60 years.
The book is full of language and prejudices that are reflective of its time. That was the time of America between the two world wars: more than twenty years before Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream” speech, years before women made it out of the kitchen into the living room, and years before new immigrants were only recognizable by the derogatory terms used to describe them. In that way, September Remember can be treated as a historical document that mentions Alcoholics Anonymous, but it is much more than that: its mythology is essentially AAs, a story of rebirth and redemption.
About the Author
Eliot Taintor: Eliot Taintor was the pseudonym for the writers Ruth Fitch and Gregory Mason.
Jowita Bydlowska: Jowita Bydlowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and moved to Canada as a teenager. Her work has appeared in various publications, including Salon and the Huffington Post. She is the author of the memoir, Drunk Mom published in 2014. She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her son and his father.