Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Quick and Easy Sign Up!

It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.

Sign Up Browse

Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

  • Download on iOS
  • Download on Android
  • Download on iOS

Everything I Never Wanted to Be: A Memoir of Alcoholism and Addiction, Faith and Family, Hope and Humor

Dina Kucera
3.75/5 (1917 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera is the true story of a family's battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. In many ways, it is a cross between Mary Karr's The Liar's Club and James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. Dina's grandfather and father were alcoholics. Her grandmother was a pill addict. Dina is an alcoholic and pill addict, and all three of her daughters struggle with alcohol and drug addiction, including her youngest daughter, who started using heroin at age fourteen.

Dina's household also includes her husband and his unemployed identical twin, a mother who has Parkinson's Disease, a grandson who has cerebral palsy, and various other friends and family members who drift in and out of the household depending on their employment situation and rehab status. On top of all that, Dina is trying to make it as a stand-up comic and author so she can quit her crummy job as a grocery store clerk. Through it all, Dina does her best to hold her family together, keep her faith, and maintain her sense of humor.

The story opens with Dina on stage, competing on the "Funniest Mom in America" TV show. She's performed hundreds of times, but this time she freezes because she's flashing back to her teenage daughter's harrowing hospital stay following a suicide attempt. From there, it's a rollercoaster ride that includes stories of parental neglect, drug overdoses, a priest who masturbates while hearing confessions, a tragic childbirth, a teen who finds out via videotape that she was raped while she was high on crystal meth, a stay in a mental ward, a surprisingly redemptive trip to Disneyland, and more relapses and rehabs than you can keep track of. It's a story that is brutally honest -- shocking at times -- yet still funny and full of hope.

As you might imagine, a story filled with alcoholics and drug addicts includes a number of horrific events. But in the end, Everything I Never Wanted to Be is an uplifting story that contains valuable lessons for parents and teens alike, and a strong message about the need to address the epidemic of teen drug addiction in our nation. It's a book that can change behavior and save lives and make you laugh along the way.

"Raw and funny." -- Joel Stein, Time Magazine columnist

"Like a maelstrom." -- Gary Klinga, ForeWord Review

"So absolutely over the top that it makes readers laugh out loud and thank God it is not them." -- Robin Martin, San Francisco Book Review

"Malcolm in the Middle meets Cops." -- Jenny Mounfield, The Compulsive Reader

"Open and honest." -- Charline Ratcliff, Rebecca's Reads

"You are a good writer. No doubt." James Frey to Dina Kucera
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0982579438
ISBN13:
9780982579435
kindle Asin:
B004SPW56A

Everything I Never Wanted to Be: A Memoir of Alcoholism and Addiction, Faith and Family, Hope and Humor

Dina Kucera
3.75/5 (1917 ratings)
Read Download
Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera is the true story of a family's battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. In many ways, it is a cross between Mary Karr's The Liar's Club and James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. Dina's grandfather and father were alcoholics. Her grandmother was a pill addict. Dina is an alcoholic and pill addict, and all three of her daughters struggle with alcohol and drug addiction, including her youngest daughter, who started using heroin at age fourteen.

Dina's household also includes her husband and his unemployed identical twin, a mother who has Parkinson's Disease, a grandson who has cerebral palsy, and various other friends and family members who drift in and out of the household depending on their employment situation and rehab status. On top of all that, Dina is trying to make it as a stand-up comic and author so she can quit her crummy job as a grocery store clerk. Through it all, Dina does her best to hold her family together, keep her faith, and maintain her sense of humor.

The story opens with Dina on stage, competing on the "Funniest Mom in America" TV show. She's performed hundreds of times, but this time she freezes because she's flashing back to her teenage daughter's harrowing hospital stay following a suicide attempt. From there, it's a rollercoaster ride that includes stories of parental neglect, drug overdoses, a priest who masturbates while hearing confessions, a tragic childbirth, a teen who finds out via videotape that she was raped while she was high on crystal meth, a stay in a mental ward, a surprisingly redemptive trip to Disneyland, and more relapses and rehabs than you can keep track of. It's a story that is brutally honest -- shocking at times -- yet still funny and full of hope.

As you might imagine, a story filled with alcoholics and drug addicts includes a number of horrific events. But in the end, Everything I Never Wanted to Be is an uplifting story that contains valuable lessons for parents and teens alike, and a strong message about the need to address the epidemic of teen drug addiction in our nation. It's a book that can change behavior and save lives and make you laugh along the way.

"Raw and funny." -- Joel Stein, Time Magazine columnist

"Like a maelstrom." -- Gary Klinga, ForeWord Review

"So absolutely over the top that it makes readers laugh out loud and thank God it is not them." -- Robin Martin, San Francisco Book Review

"Malcolm in the Middle meets Cops." -- Jenny Mounfield, The Compulsive Reader

"Open and honest." -- Charline Ratcliff, Rebecca's Reads

"You are a good writer. No doubt." James Frey to Dina Kucera
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0982579438
ISBN13:
9780982579435
kindle Asin:
B004SPW56A

More Books

Move to Millions: The Proven Framework to Become a Million Dollar CEO with Grace & Ease Instead of Hustle & Grind

Darnyelle Jervey Harmon

Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives

Anne Michaud

Love is the Answer, God is the Cure: A True Story of Abuse, Betrayal and Unconditional Love

Aimee Cabo Nikolov

Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece

Yvonne Korshak

I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie

Pamela Des Barres

The Viola Factor

Sheridan Brown

Stolen Innocence

Elissa Wall

Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman

Nuala O'Faolain

The Concubine's Children

Denise Chong

The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow

Krystyna Chiger

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie Is Not the Answer

Jen Lancaster

Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Story of Elsa, #1)

Joy Adamson