Koren Zailckas Essays

lived in reinforced her negative self-image, while her use of alcohol was reinforced through making her feel better about herself. Alcohol made Koren temporarily forget her self-hatred. It is clear from her memoir that she had self-hatred and body shame from her young adolescence onward. She “swilled vodka to flip over humiliating experiences” (Zailckas 264), however, her idea of humiliation is skewed. She lacks confidence in social situations, so for her, humiliation is common. Her lack of confidence

of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas. This book reflects on Koren’s experiences as a teenage girl in America, from ages 14 to 22. Koren took her first drink at age 14, when she and a friend stole it from a parent’s liquor cabinet. Her relationship with alcohol progresses over time. At 16 years old, Koren must have her stomach pumped. At age 22, she wakes up in an unfamiliar apartment in New York City. The focus of the book is the debilitating effects of alcohol, how Koren discovers herself, and