REVIEW for Getting Off by Erica Garza

Thank you to the publisher Simon & Schuster for giving me an e-copy of this book.

TITLE:             Getting off

AUHTOR:        Erica Garza

GENRE:           Memoir

RATING:           

My short review is: I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Memoirs on addictions are, in my opinion, very difficult to write. Imagine taking your biggest secrets and putting them all on paper for the world to see. 

This is exactly what Garza did - in fact, she did it in a way that was different from many memoirs, while you can feel the dread, sadness, bewilderment Garza feels as she continues to indulge in her addiction, she does so in a way that sends the message "mea culpa, but I am human and this will never be perfect".

I found this refreshing and surprising. Yes, we get the feeling that Garza is completely lost and yes, while she describes her past (especially her younger years with candor and mercifully not too much detail) we also get the feeling that this person was born to be who she is with the good, the bad and the really bad.

I am not sure I understand some of the passages in her book, but I love that she is always honest, despite the fact that she basically tries everything to find "inner peace" - yoga, mediation, writing. While other memoirs would stop at "now that I have done all these things I have found inner peace" Garza doesn't find inner peace, but rather some kind of understanding of herself, if only a little.

I do admit that I questioned how she could travel so much, to such places without ever seeming to run of money. I also wonder how she managed to survive this behavior without STDs, but this is extremely well written. Thoughtful and deep and I love, love it.