Nice Recovery [Hardcover]

“I’m embarrassed that I lack words to describe the raw elegance of Susan Juby’s Nice Recovery. It is smart, funny, lyrical, desperately candid and astonishingly generous; and it is fucking courageous. It speaks to the very heart of the loneliness and despair that leads to the destruction of so many kids’ dreams. And then it gives us hope. This is not a young adult book; it is not an adult book. It is a human book with the power to literally save lives. I am honoured to blurb it.” - Chris Crutcher

“Juby tells her story with such honesty and warmth that it’s easy to empathize with both her ascent into alcoholism, for that’s what it was for her, and then her spiralling downfall. Her story is also interspersed with the same wonderfully incisive humour that distinguishes her novels, though she is careful to avoid flippancy; her book, after all, was not written for laughs… It is Juby’s acceptance and forgiveness of herself that is on display here; her story is, quite simply, an inspiration.” - The Globe and Mail

“The best comic writers always have a dark side. Susan Juby tells the tale of her days as a wild young ‘drinky pants’ with ‘a minor drug addiction on the side’ with great spirit and honesty. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you may even shed a tear, and you’ll definitely cheer her on her way to recovery. A great read.” - O.R. Melling

“[In] Susan Juby’s hilarious, moving memoir Nice Recovery …. she is autobiographer, confessing her teenage alcoholism and drug habit. She does this with compulsively readable, self-deprecating wit, a candid voice and an entertainer’s penchant for the lively turn of phrase…. A cautionary tale, yes, but with energy derived from a spirit of compassion and sympathy. It’s as wise, witty and engrossing as any young adult novel I’ve read recently.” - Toronto Star

“Unlike many addiction memoirs, Nice Recovery isn’t a hot mess tell-all. Like Juby herself, it’s honest and funny, but avoids over-sharing…. If you’re drawn to Juby’s work because she’s more Liz Lemon than Elizabeth Wurtzel, however, rest assured she hasn’t abandoned her sense of humour. As she sees it, Nice Recovery is ultimately just like all of her other books, an uneasy mixture of “the dark and the light.”” - Quill & Quire

“[A] good read for anyone.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“Juby’s narrative is captivating as she describes her life as a party girl and her precipitous descent into addiction. […] The sometimes brutal honesty of Juby’s story is lighted by flashes of her familiar wry sense of humour and readers will enjoy some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. […] Addiction is an unfortunately common experience and this book will have an almost universal appeal for both teens and adults.” - Canadian Children’s Book News

“Alarming, blunt, and delightfully written … This is a brave and helpful book.” - The StarPhoenix

“Juby’s journey through addiction and out the other side is thoroughly entertaining, for both adults and older teens… with its honest, forthright presentation of fact, Nice Recovery goes a long way towards reviving a reviled and often (rightly) suspect form of expression.” - Westender

“Juby’s sheer honesty and straightforward language is engaging.… By recounting her story, Juby shows how teens can get into substance abuse, and details the hard process of recovering and enjoying life without chemical stimulants … Anyone who reads this book will learn something… By bravely sharing her own story, Juby has undoubtedly helped adults and teens talk about or deal with their own substance issues.” - Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"There are families, which, through a combination of genetics, culture, and inclination, produce a startling number of professional athletes, such as tennis players or hockey stars. Then there are families like the Baldwins, which produce a high percentage of actors. My family seems to specialize in people who enjoy drinking. And taking drugs. In such families, there is usually one person who stands out as particularly gifted in the field. When I was a teenager, that person was me. I was the star, the Alec Baldwin, if you will. I started drinking seriously when I was thirteen, smoking pot with a vengeance at fourteen, and getting into cocaine at sixteen. By the time I was twenty I was done. Nice Recovery is the story of how I slipped so far off course, how I got back on track, and, most importantly, what it's like to come of age as a sober young person."