Quit Like a Woman

The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol

By: Holly Whitaker

Narrated by: Holly Whitaker

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.

©2020 Holly Whitaker (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself. It will change your relationship with alcohol—and it has the power to change your relationship with your entire life.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“A funny, fast-paced, and bracingly candid dispatch from the realm of the self-actualized, but Holly Whitaker is no polished model of self-help evangelism, nor is her memoir-manifesto selling a one-size-fits-all solution. Her story is a messy human one and all the more convincing that sobriety is a feminist issue.”—Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

“As a culture, we have a weird and often dysfunctional relationship with alcohol. This thoughtful, moving book will help a lot of people get to a healthier place.”—Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections

A Must Read

One of the most poignant reasons to read the book is stated in Chapter 2 (slightly paraphrased for length): “We read labels. We shun gluten, dairy, processed foods, and refined sugars. We buy organic, use natural sunscreen, and worry about fluoride in our water and smog in our air. We do yoga and run, SoulCycle and Fitbit, we do Paleo and Keto, we juice, we cleanse. We follow Goop and drop $40 on an exercise class because there are healing crystals in the floor. We are on an endless and expensive quest for wellness. … And we drink f***ing rocket fuel.”

Does that speak to you? The Fitbit-obsessed label-reader in me feels very called out. QLAW is well-researched and includes information on a variety of topics, from neuropathways and the importance of nutrition to navigating complicated familial relations and the impact of the cultural marginalization of women and other groups such as POC and LGBTQIA+ communities. (Yes, drinking is a feminist issue. If you wanna stick it to the patriarchy, start here.)

That said, regardless of your gender or relationship with alcohol, if you want to have a balanced, healthy life, aware of the marketing and cultural messages you're bombarded with about alcohol, this book is for you.

Mind-awakening, earth shattering book

Just listened to the audio version of this book. Wow. It is so enlightening and listening to it read by the author is the way to go-her raw honesty and passion add to the impact of her story. This is an incredibly important and timely book-one which I believe I will never forget.

I feel like this book should be played everywhere!

I cried three times in the first chapter. The information just completely hit home for me and I loved the perspective provided throughout. I was, no I am, provoked in the best way possible.

I LOVED this book.

Fresh take on what it means to choose sobriety

Wow! I bought this after hearing the author speak about the problems with AA. She covers a lot- I particularly liked all the info about how alcohol is marketed and culturally seen as the way to have fun. She gives tons of practical advice about preparing to get sober, image that concept!!! Also practical advise about building a social life if you’ve had to distance yourself from yours bc it was all about drinking. There’s so much more, including info on a sobriety school she started. Awesome.

Great Read

Great story, statistics, and research. I enjoyed this book and found that I didn't want to stop. Would have given it five stars but I'm getting tired of the hate on Trump and men. Tired of blame game.

The truth doesn’t hurt

If you are struggling with addiction get this book immediately! Furthermore, if you are a women with the balls to call yourself a feminist in a climate that treats feminism like the next plague, it is your moral responsibility to devour this book as if it were your last meal! Happy healing warrior sisters!

Best book I’ve ever read love that it was an eight hour audiobook I listen to it over one week. Absolutely love her

Inspirational, Real, touches on all aspects of life, I love her opinions and I can listen to her all day every day changed my life
Ashley

The Uncomfortable Slow Burn that I Didnt Know that I Needed

I selected this book as a means of learning more about addiction from the female perspective - and the book accomplished it.

Whether you are drinker or a non-drinker, there is insight to be pondered in these pages (not only on substance use, but on socio-political and cultural ideologies too). I am not going to lie, I was not sure if I really liked the style of writing when I first began listening. Whitaker’s words could be felt as jarring, possibly combative, and a bit off-topic at times, or so I thought. However, by the second half of the book, Whitaker provided good resources and insight to consider, which greatly change my overall experience of the book from my initial hesitation I felt during the beginning.

I appreciated Whitaker’s honesty and boldness to light some fires. I just had to take a step back from the flames when it got too hot, but I remained transfixed on the light of her message and found comfort in its overall warmth.

Thank you for sharing your story, Holly.

Healing for Humans

This is a book meant to help humans heal - not only from alcohol, but from the things and people keeping us from living the grandest version of ourselves.
Don’t pass it by, you won’t be sorry. You will learn more about yourself through Rachel’s journey than you ever thought possible. Don’t be afraid!

Life Changing

Honest, transparent, relatable depiction of dependency, told through a voice of sensibility and awareness. POWERFUL