Drink, smoke, pass out: an unlikely spiritual journey by Judith Lucy

Abstract – Judith Lucy has looked everywhere for happiness. Growing up a Catholic, she thought about becoming a nun, and later threw herself into work, finding a partner and getting off her face. Somehow, none of that worked. So lately, she’s been asking herself the big questions. Why are we here? Is there a God? What happens when we die? And why can’t she tell you what her close friends believe in, but she can tell you which ones have herpes? No-one could have been more surprised than Judith when she started to find solace and meaning in yoga and meditation, and a newfound appreciation for what others get from their religion. In her first volume of memoir, the bestselling The Lucy Family Alphabet, Judith dealt with her parents. In Drink, Smoke, Pass Out, she tries to find out if there’s more to life than wanting to suck tequila out of Ryan Gosling’s navel. With disarming frankness and classic dry wit, she reviews the major paths of her life and, alarmingly, finds herself on a journey.”

Comments

• One reader found the book more interesting than expected. It was good to read about the ‘lightbulb’ moments; but annoying to read about being adopted all the way through.
• There were some very funny sentences and comic sequences.
• It was sad and depressing to read about the lack of self-worth and the length of time that it took for Judith to realise that her personal standard of perfection was self-imposed.
• The book was repetitious and self-indulgent and didn’t seem genuine.
• The discussions about Catholicism were interesting and the limited choices that Judith felt that she had – a mother, or a nun, or a career woman.
• One reader thought that she would totally dislike the book and found it more readable than expected. Some portions really resonated with the reader.

Read by –  The Second Tuesday Evening Book Group