In My Skin or To Buy or Not to Buy

In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction

Author: Kate Holden

Called "Quite simply in a class of its own . . . the work of a stunningly talented writer who both graces and surpasses her material" (Guardian), this is the frank, harrowing, and true story of one young woman's descent into heroin addiction and prostitution and the long, arduous struggle to redeem her life that made her stronger. A shy, bookish college graduate from a solid middle-class home, Kate Holden was uncertain of her way in life. When she decided to try her first hit of heroin as a one-time adventure with friends, she did not anticipate that the drug would take over. She lost her job and apartment and stole from her family. Desperation drove her first to offer her body on the streets and then in high-class brothels, where she discovered hidden strengths as well as parts of herself that frightened her. With the acceptance and unyielding love of a family that never abandoned her, Kate Holden ultimately defeated the drug and left her netherworld behind.

About the Author: Kate Holden was born in 1972 and graduated from the University of Melbourne with an honors degree in classics and literature. She won the Judy Duffy Award for literary excellence for a draft manuscript of this book. She lives in Melbourne and is working on a novel.

Publishers Weekly

What happens when a bright, well-loved young woman gets hooked on heroin and turns to prostitution to keep up her habit? Hopefully, she eventually shakes free, as Australian Holden does, but most likely a lot goes wrong first. In this vivid and riveting account of her own sudden fall and slow recovery, Holden describes the slow pull toward heroin as her friends and her lover are hooked. Mild, almost bored temptation turns into obsession after she gives it a try. As the drug and the life compromises it encourages take over Holden's universe, she loses her job and rarely sees her family and clean friends. Eventually, desperate for cash for the daily fixes for herself and her inept boyfriend, she starts turning tricks on the street. When, one night, a john turns out to be a scout for temps at a brothel, Holden's story turns. The relative stability of the brothel, and the accompanying relationships with sister prostitutes and even some johns, revives Holden's sense of self and self-worth. Throughout, she tells it like it is. Her depictions of the dark realities she lived through are at times graphic, especially in some of the more difficult scenes with johns, but always clear-eyed. She lets the readers see and judge the situation for themselves. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The elevated, poetic language of Aussie writer Holden's debut memoir vibrates with passion as she tells the story of the small victories and great obstacles she encountered as a heroin addict who turned to prostitution as a way of supporting her habit. The middle-class Holden, a carefree, artistic bohemian who scraped by selling books, is introduced to the drug in her early twenties by her boyfriend in the small Australian town of St. Kilda at a time when the grunge band Nirvana reigned and heroin was at the peak of its glamour. Holden finds the strength to recover through the help of her supportive family and, ironically, through her struggle with the very hardships she finally escapes. Her acutely vivid prose is a revelation, even if the subject matter is not. Recommended for all public libraries. [Holden's draft manuscript of this book won the Judy Duffy Award for literary excellence. Ed.] Elizabeth Brinkley, Granite Falls, WA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A startling debut memoir about sex, work and smack. A bookish, piano-playing homebody, Holden grew up middle-class in Melbourne, Australia. At college, her heart was broken, and she discovered alcohol. She began reading (and dressing like) Ana‹s Nin. She lived in a trendy neighborhood, partied all the time and eventually tried heroin. Soon, her life narrowed to three activities: getting money for smack, scoring and shooting up. To finance her addiction, she stole money from the bookstore where she'd worked for years; after getting sacked, she began turning tricks, first on the street and then in a series of high-class brothels, which are legal in Australia. After only a few months, Holden grew accustomed to using a pseudonym and having sex with eight men a night. The work was degrading, but it had some glamorous aspects, ranging from velvet dresses to the sensation of being "beautiful and desirable." She felt genuine affection for some of her clients, though she had the sense (most of the time) not to see them outside the brothel. Eventually, thanks to her mother and to methadone, she got clean and left the sex trade. Holden's prose is subtle and elegant. She has a knack for unusual, revealing phrases, like "baffled by weariness" or "the organized hauteur of the true professional." If memoirists must make a choice between simply recreating the past and editorializing about it, this writer chooses the former. Her descriptions of the brothels are vivid, but there is something disconcerting about her almost total refusal to interpret her years as a prostitute. Early on, she acknowledges the debate about whether sex work exploits or empowers women, bur she never weighs in explicitly on eitherside. Too bad, since an analysis based on firsthand experience would be worth any number of distanced women's-studies treatises. Beautiful and discomfiting: The words sing, but the singer never reveals her innermost thoughts. Agent: Christian Dittus/Paul & Peter Fritz Literary Agency

Book review: A Thousand Hills or Civil Service Exams

To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop

Author: April Benson

According to a recent study, it is estimated that more than 10 million Americans are unable to stop themselves from frequent shopping binges that lead to debt, damaged relationships, and depression. In this book, April Lane Benson draws on decades of clinical experience and on recent research to offer information, insights, and practical strategies for overcoming compulsive buying.

The cardinal signs of compulsive buying are:Frequent purchases of unneeded or unaffordable itemsIntrusive or uncontrollable impulses to buyEmotional let-down or feelings of guilt after shopping

In plain and encouraging language, Dr. Benson helps readers to identify their “overshopping sequence”—the pattern of triggers, actions, and aftershocks (or negative consequences) that plague compulsive buyers. With this awareness of the dynamics of their shopping problem, readers gain the ability to address the root causes. Dr. Benson demonstrates how unaddressed emotional pain can drive us to overshop, as can limited and unrealistic concepts about what will make us truly happy in life.

To promote recovery, she offers readers an integrated approach that enlists the mind, the heart, and even the body to develop a mindful awareness around shopping and take back control over buying and spending. Includes patient stories, practical strategies, exercises, and information on financial planning.