One woman's journey to the bottom of the bottle-and back again. In this moving, emotionally charged, and unflinching look at alcoholism and its effects, lawyer and prominent National Public Radio writer and commentator Heather King describes her twenty-year-long descent into the depths of addiction with wit and candor. King went from a highly functioning alcoholic who managed to maintain her grip on reality to living in the lowest of dive bars, drinking around the clock and barely sustaining an existence. With help from the most unexpected source, King stopped her self-destructive spiral and changed her world for the better. This is the poignant, painfully honest, and inspirational true story of a woman who looked into the abyss, and was able to step back from the edge and reclaim her life on her own terms. Loaded with jokes and wicked anecdotes…Parched is a big-picture kind of memoir, literary and complete. - Robin Vaughn, Boston Phoenix, 6/24/05 A remarkable story of spiritual enlightenment from the depths of alcoholism. - Bradley Quick, The Bradley Quick Show, KRLA (Los Angeles) 5/28/05 Pained adolescence…sordid drinking days…King avoids the clichés in favor of self-deprecating humor….terrifying, and equally human. - Claire Suddath, Nashville Scene 6/23/05 Poignant…It gives us all hope for embracing grace. - Arlene Helderman, National Catholic Reporter 5/20/05 King uses humor and bare-bulb honesty to describe her childhood… and the 20 years she spent drunk. - Stephanie Bouchard, Maine Sunday Telegram 7/3/05 It’s a story about a good girl gone bad - gone good. "Parched,"…lays naked her 18 years wrapped in drugs and alcohol: sweet memories, toilet rims and all. - Jeanné McCartin, Portsmouth Herald 7/11/05 Through her gift of words, she is a living suggestion of the potential each of us has for knowing happiness precisely because we thirst. - Fr. James Behrens, OCSO, Our Journey Toward Happiness, Monastery of the Holy Spirit 6/14/05 Poignant, painfully honest and inspirational true story of her 20-year struggle with alcoholism. - Gay City News (New York), 6/23/05 Heather King isan award-winning memoirist, columnist, and blogger. Her books include  Parched ;  Redeemed; Shirt of Flame; Poor Baby ;  Loaded; and Holy Desperation ,2018 Book of the Year winner from the National Association of CatholicPublishers. She speaks nationwide, is a former NPR "All ThingsConsidered" commentator, and writes a weekly column on arts and culture for  Angelus ,the archdiocesan newspaper of L.A. For more, visit  Heather King: Mystery, Smarts,Laughs  [heather-king.com].