We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life, Hardcover

"We Are the Luckiest is a masterpiece. It's the truest, most generous, honest, and helpful sobriety memoir I've read. It's going to save lives."
-- Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Warrior: A Memoir

What could possibly be "lucky" about addiction? Absolutely nothing, thought Laura McKowen when drinking brought her to her knees. As she puts it, she "kicked and screamed . . . wishing for something -- anything -- else" to be her issue. The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky.

But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy. She recognized that "those of us who answer the invitation to wake up, whatever our invitation, are really the luckiest of all."

Here, in straight-talking chapters filled with personal stories, McKowen addresses issues such as facing facts, the question of AA, and other people's drinking. Without sugarcoating the struggles of sobriety, she relentlessly emphasizes the many blessings of an honest life, one without secrets and debilitating shame.

Laura McKowen had a successful career in public relations and the Mad Men-esque drinking culture of advertising. After getting sober, she became recognized as a fresh voice in recovery, beloved for her soulful and irreverent writing online and in print. She now leads sold-out retreats and courses, teaching people how to say yes to a bigger life. She lives outside Boston.