linda fetch

Verna: “Well, the title of this blog has alcohol in it, so it’s about time to talk about it.”

There’s a very enduring myth out there in the culture that the best artists, musicians and writers are either drunks, addicts, crazy or a combination, and preferably will die tragically due to their intense lifestyle.

That may make exciting literature or movies, but some of us would prefer to live a long time and get our excitement out of creating and experiencing art.

I thought I had mentioned it previously, but in terms of movies about drunk or addicted artists, Pollock and Basquiat are highly recommended, both of whom come to tragic ends.

Just to pick an artist I think is completely amazing, who did a lot of drugs early, then had a long sober career, I recommend the movie Crumb (and even better, the books by and about him that came out after that movie.) (And as another side comment, you need to check out the works by his wife Aline Kominsky, who’s fascinating both in her life, writings, and art as well.)

Another movie I saw just recently that had quite an impact was Days of Wine and Roses. Hard to believe that Blake Edwards, director of such humorous froth as the Pink Panther movies and 10, was involved in this intense and wrenching study of the descent of a upwardly mobile couple into a pit of alcoholism. For its time (1962?) it’s amazingly powerful, a couple scenes of Jack Lemmon’s will stay with you a long time.

There are plenty of resources for people who recognize that they have a problem with drinking or drugs. A lot of young people consider AA a bunch of middle aged losers, but in my opinion it’s still the best place to start. I’ve found that books by Terence Gorski are great supplements to that program, and I also recommend a great book called Understanding the Alcoholic’s Mind by Dr. Arnold Ludwig. You might be put off by the ponderous title and big list of references in the book, but if you read it you’ll really understand the nature of the craving and get some insight on how it might be controlled.

But there is really no substitute for the face to face interaction with other addicts trying to stay sober. It seems counterintuitive: one anti-AA guy says that it’s ridiculous to think you can get well with the help of other sick people, but due to the nature of the disease, and the fact that no medical cure exists, it just so happens that that appears to be the case.