Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me

Awesome read. Read it in 4 days. I couldn't put it down for long. Such an inspiring story!!! Highly recommend it to anyone

Ok, so...I actually thoroughly enjoyed this book. Erin is a great storyteller and you can tell she's put her all into this. I really liked how she started off with the relatively present and went all the way back to explain how things happened leading up to the relatively present time.I love the emotions she showed, however I feel like it sometimes came across flat. As one who has dealt with traumas like this, I get sometimes you just want to speak matter of factly so that you're not reliving the emotions. I just feel like there were times where the emotions could have shined a little more.Now here's where she made me roll my eyes...continually...She is biracial (white and...maybe Persian? Maybe Armenian...cant remember atm), but it's clear she knows and possibly even identifies more with her white side. This is not the problem - you grow up how you grow up; the problem is all this "acknowledging her privilege" stuff. It came off as phony and something to play on bc that is today's climate.But with all the money she has and how "bad" she felt about the fact that she passes as a full white woman, I read nothing about what she has done for POC to help to ratify the issues she saw. I saw nothing about any POC that she was close to. Like...what was the point of mentioning the disparity several times for you to do nothing about it? Not everyone has to be a freedom fighter, but you mentioned it for what? To acknowledge it? Ok...AND? Good for you; a white woman who knows she's privileged...What are you doing with your privilege for POC? What are you doing to close the gap?She could be doing things, I'm not saying she isn't. I'm just saying she used that card like how most people use mental health in writing - romanticizing an issue just to make sales. If that's not true, that's how it came off.There's more on that topic I could say, but I'll leave it there.Anyway...I did enjoy it. I'm a writer myself and I am writing about someone close to me who is an addict, so it helped to understand a little more about how she thinks. I'm also glad Erin made it out and has a wonderful and beautiful family that loves and cherishes her; everyone deserves love.

I received and Advance Reader's Edition from Park Row Books in exchange for my honest review. Strung Out begins with a question from Khar's then twelve year old son, "Mom, did you ever do drugs?" The memoir recounts the author's fifteen year addiction to heroin and how it consumed her life, blinded her to the impact her addiction had on her relationships, particularly with her parents and close friends. It is brutally honest and powerfully written.Khar grew up privileged in Los Angeles, getting great grades, cheerleading, horseback riding, and with expensive cars, clothing, houses, and popular friends. From the outside, she had all she could ever want or need and more. Her drug use began at age eight when she found an expired prescription for her grandmother's Darvocet in the medicine chest. She started using heroin at age thirteen to escape from emotions and feelings that she didn't understand.For the next fifteen years, Khar used, went into rehabilitation, and relapsed, with the shame and stigma of her addiction increasing along with her denials and lies. It took motherhood for her to break from her addiction and get the help she needed. The book addresses the issues of stigma and the psychology of addiction well.Every parent should read this book, as should middle and high school age students, educators, and parent teacher organizations. It is one thing to provide our kids with classroom drug prevention education. It is something very different to read about an individual's personal experience of it and how quickly it all spirals out of control, particularly in the current climate where opioid deaths continue to climb.

Erin has a compelling story but I became tired of hearing about the swanky places she lunched or vacationed or lived. And how her wealthy parents set her up in apartments or condos and got her into treatment centers that most people can’t afford.I get that she may have been trying to convey that money doesn’t solve problems or assures happiness. But I found I was “skim reading “ through those passages.For me, it just felt that too much of her story was about her active addiction years. The last 10% of the book was about her recovery and I would have liked to hear more about the ups and downs of that part of her life.No way am I minimizing Erin’s life struggles. I’m just talking about her book.I am so happy for her recovery and her renewed life with her husband and children. Bravo and blessings to all.

A well told, interesting, honest memoir that doesn't sugar coat or glamorize addiction. Erin is one of the lucky ones. Many addicts with habits as serious as hers don't live to write their stories.The author was privileged, but money is a double edged sword. Altho it can pay for the best treatment and keeps many addicts away from the potentially lethal dangers of prostitution, it also pays for the drugs themselves. Wealth for an addict can be a deadly trap, we've lost many shining stars.Addicts choose their enablers well, they are crafty manipulators. Erin was furious at her mother for being in denial about her early sexual abuse, but this tendency toward denial served Erin well when she wanted her mother to turn a blind eye to her drug abuse. Addicts can't have it both ways!! And her father, well, he finally figured out before it was too late that love can kill.This is a cautionary tale about addiction with that rare happy ending. Erin is a sympathetic narrator and very very human.

What strikes me as bizarre is how critical Erin is of her father, who seems like an angel to me. Flying to get her settled in Paris, treating her and her friends to a vacation in Vegas to celebrate her birthday, buying her houses, funding her erratic college experience and her many expensive rehabs.

Beautiful book, beautifully written and spoken that addicts understand and others can empathise with. The pain is there on the page and you are urging the writer to succeed. Loved every single word.

I loved everything about this book it really hit home for me ...as I was once like Erin...but I just celebrated my 2 year cake ....we can all recover like Erin said it is very possible

Love this book - writer did a fantastic job of leaving me wanting more.

This book is unreal. She is so raw, honest and candid. Thank you for writing this!!!! Brought me to tears. What a story of strength, hope and courage.bravo!!