Showing posts with label Memoirs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memoirs. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant Big SALE

Title : Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Free Press
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.5
Buyer Review : 359

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A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human—our minds.A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human—our minds.


Review :
An astonishing book that will touch and warm your heart
This is an astonishing book, written in first person. It is a memoir of the author's life with the "synaesthesia and savant syndrome", a rare form of Asperger's syndrome.

People with synaethesia see numbers as forms with color and texture, and days as vivid colors, and so Daniel Tammet has the ability to see in his mind numbers and days as colors, each number and day having its own distinct color as an attribute. A day with a color, like a flower with a scent! The blue day of the title of this book refers to Wednesday, which, like the number nine, he sees in his mind as blue. "I know it was a Wednesday," narrates Tammet, "because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number nine or the sound of loud voices arguing."

Daniel is also a savant, with a remarkable ability to multiply and divide given numbers with astonishing speed. He can recite from memory the number pi, 22 divided by 7, or 3.1428571 to 22,514 decimal places, a feat...
Truly Unique Perspective on Autism from the Subject Himself
If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, then the savant gifts of Daniel Tammet are all the more startling because he has an ability to meld his senses together seamlessly to see things nobody else can. It's an impressive, even daunting prowess that comes at a high price since he has Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes him to be limited in his ability to fit in with the larger culture, as well as synaesthesia, a condition where sounds, words or numbers can translate into colors, shapes or textures. In fact, the latter condition is reflected in the book's title as he associates the color blue with Wednesdays. What makes this book so thoroughly unique is that the book is not a treatise of a subject by a medical professional but a memoir by the subject himself.

As such, there are no grand conclusions drawn about either medical condition, or scientific assumptions of how Tammet came to his gifts. What the author does quite plainly is share how he...
Breathtaking!
A must read for parents and family of autistic children and adults. To finally discover an explanation for the little habits...obsession with spinning, walking in circles, plugging/covering of the ears, rocking... It's all here in one place. While I have become very accustomed to my son's habits, I have never understood what exactly was causing the behavior. After reading Tammet's book, I feel I can better help my son enjoy his environment.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Running Like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run Big SALE

Title : Running Like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Scribner
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.5
Buyer Review : 95

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The inspiring, hilarious memoir of a “Bridget Jones-like writer” (The Washington Post) who transforms her life by learning to run, with stories of miserable defeat, complete victory, and learning to choose the right shoes.

When Alexandra Heminsley decided to take up running, she had hopes for a blissful runner’s high and immediate physical transformation. After eating three slices of toast with honey and spending ninety minutes creating the perfect playlist, she hit the streets—and failed spectacularly. The stories of her first runs turn on its head the common notion that we are all “born to run”—and exposes the truth about starting to run: it can be brutal.

Running Like a Girl tells the story of getting beyond the brutal part, how Alexandra makes running a part of her life, and reaps the rewards: not just the obvious things, like weight loss, health, and glowing skin; but self-confidence and immeasurable daily pleasure, along with a new closeness to her father—a marathon runner—and her brother, with whom she ultimately runs her first marathon.

But before her first marathon, she has to figure out the logistics of running: the intimidating questions from a young and arrogant sales assistant when she goes to buy her first running shoes, where to get decent bras for the larger bust, how not to freeze or get sunstroke, and what (and when) to eat before a run. She’s figured out what’s important (pockets) and what isn’t (appearance), and more.

For any woman who has ever run, wanted to run, tried to run, or failed to run (even if just around the block), Heminsley’s funny, warm, and motivational personal journey from nonathlete extraordinaire to someone who has completed five marathons is inspiring, entertaining, practical, and fun.


Review :
Very inspirational book!
I liked this book so much I bought two more copies for friends who, admittedly, already love to run. Still... I wanted them to know that I *get* it after reading this book. She is absolutely right in that we have everything we need to get moving. You just have to start somewhere. And after I read this book, I went running for the first time in more than 30 years... and survived to write this review!

Not too old
Loved this book. Coming from someone who started running at 56 .. I appreciated its honesty and humor! Never quit trying!

Made my first few weeks of running easier and joyful!
This book has made me laugh until I could hardly breathe and cry just as hard. I have always been the least athletic person in my family. I was the one with the best grades and the nerd, so I found excuses not to even try physically in PE at school. I told myself it just wasn't my "thing," even though I secretly envied those who were athletic and fit. I started a 5k training program a couple weeks ago, and heard myself saying inwardly, "You can't do this. You aren't physically strong enough." Being a cancer survivor and having a rare lung disease would be easy excuses for me, but they taught me that I am stronger than I thought- and now I want to be a runner. Just for me. I want to prove to myself that I can use my body to move me forward, not just be a victim and suffer its illnesses and pains. This book has given me such courage through the first two weeks of training, and I know I will reread it over and over.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant Big Discount

Title : Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Free Press
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.5
Buyer Review : 337

Description : This specific Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant functions fantastic, easy to use as well as change. The cost of this is lower when compared with other locations My spouse and i investigates, and never a lot more when compared with comparable item

This specific item gives exceeded out anticipation, this place has become a wonderfull upgrade on myself personally, The theory showed up properly as well as quickly Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant


A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human—our minds.A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human—our minds.


Review :
An astonishing book that will touch and warm your heart
This is an astonishing book, written in first person. It is a memoir of the author's life with the "synaesthesia and savant syndrome", a rare form of Asperger's syndrome.

People with synaethesia see numbers as forms with color and texture, and days as vivid colors, and so Daniel Tammet has the ability to see in his mind numbers and days as colors, each number and day having its own distinct color as an attribute. A day with a color, like a flower with a scent! The blue day of the title of this book refers to Wednesday, which, like the number nine, he sees in his mind as blue. "I know it was a Wednesday," narrates Tammet, "because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number nine or the sound of loud voices arguing."

Daniel is also a savant, with a remarkable ability to multiply and divide given numbers with astonishing speed. He can recite from memory the number pi, 22 divided by 7, or 3.1428571 to 22,514 decimal places, a feat...
Unique insight
Over the last couple of years there has been an explosion of new and valuable material written on the experience of autism, much of it written from the points of view of either how to deal with an autistic child or a more medical explanation of symptoms. Reading about what it actually feels like to live with autism is very rare. Daniel's ability to so carefully describe to us how he experiences life is highly unusual and must be incredibly valuable to researchers.

Daniel Tammet is still a very young man, and his autobiography is necessarily not going to be very long. Moreover, due to the nature of his condition it was not until very recently that he has had much by way of dealings with the outside world. Much of the book takes place in his own mind, his relationships with numbers, logic, mathematics, chess and puzzles, essentially how his mind organizes its thought. One also finds how the tiniest irregularities in his routines - a dropped spoon, perhaps, or the ring of...
Breathtaking!
A must read for parents and family of autistic children and adults. To finally discover an explanation for the little habits...obsession with spinning, walking in circles, plugging/covering of the ears, rocking... It's all here in one place. While I have become very accustomed to my son's habits, I have never understood what exactly was causing the behavior. After reading Tammet's book, I feel I can better help my son enjoy his environment.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant Discount !!

Title : Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Free Press
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.5
Buyer Review : 337

Description : This particular Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant functions great, simple to use and also modify. The price for this is much lower compered to other locations My partner and i explored, rather than a lot more when compared with comparable merchendise

This specific obcject gives surpasses the prospect, this has become a fantastic buy for me personally, The theory arrived safely as well as quickly Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant


A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human—our minds.

Features :
  • autism
  • savant
  • understanding autism
  • special needs
  • Dustin Hoffman

Review :
An astonishing book that will touch and warm your heart
This is an astonishing book, written in first person. It is a memoir of the author's life with the "synaesthesia and savant syndrome", a rare form of Asperger's syndrome.

People with synaethesia see numbers as forms with color and texture, and days as vivid colors, and so Daniel Tammet has the ability to see in his mind numbers and days as colors, each number and day having its own distinct color as an attribute. A day with a color, like a flower with a scent! The blue day of the title of this book refers to Wednesday, which, like the number nine, he sees in his mind as blue. "I know it was a Wednesday," narrates Tammet, "because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number nine or the sound of loud voices arguing."

Daniel is also a savant, with a remarkable ability to multiply and divide given numbers with astonishing speed. He can recite from memory the number pi, 22 divided by 7, or 3.1428571 to 22,514 decimal places, a feat...
Unique insight
Over the last couple of years there has been an explosion of new and valuable material written on the experience of autism, much of it written from the points of view of either how to deal with an autistic child or a more medical explanation of symptoms. Reading about what it actually feels like to live with autism is very rare. Daniel's ability to so carefully describe to us how he experiences life is highly unusual and must be incredibly valuable to researchers.

Daniel Tammet is still a very young man, and his autobiography is necessarily not going to be very long. Moreover, due to the nature of his condition it was not until very recently that he has had much by way of dealings with the outside world. Much of the book takes place in his own mind, his relationships with numbers, logic, mathematics, chess and puzzles, essentially how his mind organizes its thought. One also finds how the tiniest irregularities in his routines - a dropped spoon, perhaps, or the ring of...
Breathtaking!
A must read for parents and family of autistic children and adults. To finally discover an explanation for the little habits...obsession with spinning, walking in circles, plugging/covering of the ears, rocking... It's all here in one place. While I have become very accustomed to my son's habits, I have never understood what exactly was causing the behavior. After reading Tammet's book, I feel I can better help my son enjoy his environment.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

On Immunity: An Inoculation On Sale

Title : On Immunity: An Inoculation
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Graywolf Press
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.0
Buyer Review : 114

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A New York Times Best Seller
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the Year
A Facebook "Year of Books" Selection

One of the Best Books of the Year
* National Book Critics Circle Award finalist * The New York Times Book Review (Top 10) * Entertainment Weekly (Top 10) * New York Magazine (Top 10)* Chicago Tribune (Top 10) * Publishers Weekly (Top 10) * Time Out New York (Top 10) * Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * Booklist * NPR's Science Friday * Newsday * Slate * Refinery 29 * And many more...


Why do we fear vaccines? A provocative examination by Eula Biss, the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

Upon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear-fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in your child's air, food, mattress, medicine, and vaccines. She finds that you cannot immunize your child, or yourself, from the world.
In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world, both historically and in the present moment. She extends a conversation with other mothers to meditations on Voltaire's Candide, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Susan Sontag's AIDS and Its Metaphors, and beyond. On Immunity is a moving account of how we are all interconnected-our bodies and our fates.




Review :
Parents and doctors / This is a "Must Read" for you / It's wisdom and truth
I work in pediatrics- a field that deals with immunizations and questions about immunizations on a daily basis. I have lectured about vaccines to numerous parent and medical groups. There are a cornucopia of books about vaccines out there, and there are many that are good and very good. On Immunity is just excellent.

In my medical training, during the late 1990's-early 2000's, we were taught very little about how to discuss vaccines with parents. The attitude was that the doctor would tell the parent "your child is getting some shots today" and the parent would say "that's great, thanks!" and we would all go on with our day. When I entered the real world, I found that parents had many questions - some crazy and some very legitimate. As I was about to have my own child, I worried that some of the fears I was hearing could be true, and I spent a great deal of time doing further research. In the subsequent years, I put together a lecture that addressed...
"A child cannot be kept from his fate, though this does not stop the gods themselves from trying."
"I am no longer fearless." She is a new mother who finds that the most perilous thing we may do is to bear children. No longer an entity contained within her skin, she sets off to determine the real risks inherent in inoculations, among other interventions in the modern world. she notes in a lucid voice, that to act is to start the future in motion, and to do nothing still sets that future in its course.

I found this to be an amazing voice who has placed the fears and and anxieties of our modern medicine in the context of our existence as true beings in the whole of our world. Her various observations of the philosophy of immunizations are truly startling and clear in her well researched discussions of the role of science in our world.

She makes a cogent argument for out inability to rationally assess true risk in the face of fear. In another instance, her discussion of "herd immunity" point to the obligation that those who have access to care have to those...
Brilliant, profound exploration of cultural and historical forces that culminate in the decision not to vaccinate
ScienceThrillers Review: On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss is an extraordinary, unclassifiable, vital book that deserves to be widely read and reflected upon. Written by a critically acclaimed essayist, On Immunity is a memoir, an essay collection, a history, a social commentary, a parenting guide, a literary work...The author herself has a hard time succinctly answering the question, "What is your book about?"

I'll tell you what On Immunity is about by telling you why it's an important book. As a scientist and medical professional myself, I "believe" in vaccination. My kids get their immunizations on schedule, I get my flu shot every fall. I bristle when I encounter anti-vaccine people and propaganda. And like many other people in my shoes, I look at the data on the benefits versus risks of vaccination, and I wonder why "those people" don't get it. Essentially, I'm asking, "What is WRONG with those people?"

But did I ever truly, honestly explore the...

Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget Discount !!

Title : Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget
Category: Memoirs
Brand: Grand Central Publishing
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.4
Buyer Review : 177

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*A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

"It's such a savage thing to lose your memory, but the crazy thing is, it doesn't hurt one bit. A blackout doesn't sting, or stab, or leave a scar when it robs you. Close your eyes and open them again. That's what a blackout feels like."


For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure." She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. Drinking felt like freedom, part of her birthright as a strong, enlightened twenty-first-century woman.

But there was a price. She often blacked out, waking up with a blank space where four hours should be. Mornings became detective work on her own life. What did I say last night? How did I meet that guy? She apologized for things she couldn't remember doing, as though she were cleaning up after an evil twin. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth. The fuel she thought she needed was draining her spirit instead.

A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, BLACKOUT is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure--the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It's about giving up the thing you cherish most--but getting yourself back in return.

An Amazon Best Book of June 2015: Bracing and heartbreakingly honest, Sarah Hepola’s memoir Blackout tears off the Band-Aid of her alcohol addiction and takes a whole lot of skin with it, too. Thirty-something and a successful writer in Manhattan, Hepola turns at night to the embrace of alcohol. When her drinking transforms from a gentle suitor into an uncontrollable beast, Hepola begins to black out regularly, operating for all the world as if she’s fully aware and conscious but with no memory later of what she did. Her blackouts lead to sex with strange men and force longtime friends to take a cautious step back, and after several unsuccessful starts, Hepola finally completes the grueling process of getting clean. Hepola’s wry voice stays on the sane side of raw but doesn’t relinquish any power of authenticity as she casts a light on her own bad decisions as well the fact we now live in a culture where women getting tipsy or drunk is considered a sign of female empowerment. You don’t need to be enthralled by alcohol to be deeply affected by Blackout. But for those who do worry—or know—that they have similar struggles, Hepola’s ultimately uplifting story could help lead the way out of the rabbit hole of alcohol abuse. --Adrian Liang

*A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

"It's such a savage thing to lose your memory, but the crazy thing is, it doesn't hurt one bit. A blackout doesn't sting, or stab, or leave a scar when it robs you. Close your eyes and open them again. That's what a blackout feels like."


For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure." She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. Drinking felt like freedom, part of her birthright as a strong, enlightened twenty-first-century woman.

But there was a price. She often blacked out, waking up with a blank space where four hours should be. Mornings became detective work on her own life. What did I say last night? How did I meet that guy? She apologized for things she couldn't remember doing, as though she were cleaning up after an evil twin. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth. The fuel she thought she needed was draining her spirit instead.

A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, BLACKOUT is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure--the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It's about giving up the thing you cherish most--but getting yourself back in return.




Review :
A Poignant and Revealing Look Into the Mind of An Alcoholic
As the father of a son in long-term recovery, I have read more than my fair share of books about addiction. In fact, the shelves in my bedroom are filled with addiction-related books. Books about the science of addiction. Twelve-step books. Guides to helping loved ones get clean and sober. Memoirs written by people in recovery. Etc. (If you're looking for a book on addiction, come on over. Chances are it's on my shelf and you're welcome to borrow it.)

Reading about people's struggles with--and triumphs over--addiction is especially fascinating to me. In the world of drug and alcohol abuse, everyone's story is so similar; but at the same time, everyone's story is so unique. When someone is brave enough to put their temporary train wreck of a life down on paper for the world to see, I can't help but get sucked in. Such was the case with Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola.

Hepola started drinking at an early age and fell in love with...
Powerful. Heart Wrenching. Brave.
Sarah Hepola had me at the first page. By the last page, I felt like we were friends.

Blackout is a sharply written, brave and thoughtful account of author, Sarah Hepola’s journey through shame, self degradation and self destruction during dark and muddled years when she drank to the point of oblivion: blackouts.

Blackouts occur when alcohol prevents the brain from recording new memories. Blackouts are not a loss of memory; blackouts occur when there is no memory recorded. It is like the save button in your computer doesn’t save. There is a gap. There is nothing.

This is the story of the life of an alcoholic woman. Hepola could not imagine a sober life. She said she knew what she wanted. She didn’t want to face a day without alcohol and she wanted to not have to face the consequences of having it in her life.

She tells about her first sip of stolen beer when she was seven; getting drunk in the sixth grade; her squirm and...
An unflinching and accurate memoir of drinking and sobriety - with a shot of humor ;)
When I saw the title, the first thing I thought was "been there.. and unfortunately.. done that!"
While she described alcohol as "the gasoline of all adventure" to me it was the road to escape and also the road to creative ideas For me, running my own business, creating products and websites for them - I always had a bit of vodka to help me relax and create, and to escape.

A "bit" turned to about a liter a day... I came to a moment of clarity and had to stop. This book reminds me so much of those days (both good and bad). I totally get where she is coming from. It's terrifying to just "not know" what the hell you did, how you got to your bed, couch or floor
..who you insulted or angered, or if you were the life of the party! (Luckily for me, I was a "happy drunk" and was responsible enough to drink either at home, or walking distance or have a ride home.) I also never woke up in any exotic locations or with strangers...