I'm sending this from the H-SCI-MED-TECH list! Cheers, Dan Malleck Community Health Sciences, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario. >H-NET BOOK REVIEW >Published by [log in to unmask] (April, 2000) > >John W. Crowley, ed. _Drunkard's Progress: Narratives of Addiction, >Despair, and Recovery_. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins >University Press, 1999. ix + 202 pp. Illustrations, notes, >bibliography. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-8018-6008-3; $15.95 (paper), >ISBN 0-8018-6007-5. > >Reviewed for H-SHEAR by Aaron Hoffman <[log in to unmask]>, >Department of History, University of Aberdeen, Scotland > >In his 1845 autobiography, former bookbinder and drunkard John B. >Gough related his experiences with alcohol. "For three days I >endured more agony than pen could describe. Hideous faces appeared >on the walls, and on the ceiling, and on the floors; foul things >crept along the bedclothes, and glaring eyes peered into mine. I >was at one time surrounded by millions of monstrous spiders, who >crawled slowly, slowly over every limb, whilst the beaded drops of >persperation would start to my brow, and my limbs would shiver until >the bed rattled again"(pp. 144-45). It was with vivid and emotional >descriptions like this, along with his dramatic stage flair, that as >a temperance lecturer Gough was able to convince many to sign the >pledge of abstinence from alcohol. Gough's description of his >attack of delirium tremens was part of his experience speech in >which he described his descent into alcoholism, his rescue through >the Washingtonian pledge and his recovery to become a temperance >lecturer. > >According to John W. Crowley, Gough's speeches represent a new genre >of reform literature that developed in the 1840s: the temperance >narrative. In his book, _Drunkard's Progress: Narratives of >Addiction, Despair, and Recovery_, Crowley presents excerpts from >eight such temperance narratives, limiting his selections to works >that appeared in the 1840s as part of the Washingtonian temperance >movement. The title of the collection is a reference to the 1846 >Nathaniel Currier lithograph _The Drunkards Progress_. Currier's >print details nine stages of the life of a habitual drunkard, or >what we would today call an alcoholic, from "a glass with a friend" >to "death by suicide" (p.2). The narratives are, for the most part, >arranged chronologically from T. S. Arthur's "The Experience >Meeting," from _Six Nights with the Washingtonians_ (1842) to Andrus >V. Green's _The Life and Experience of A. V. Green_ (1848). The >editor has omitted the best known Washingtonian narrative, Walt >Whitman's _Franklin Evans_ (1842) which is available elsewhere. The >introduction to _Drunkard's Progress_ provides an overview of the >antebellum temperance movement and the Washingtonians. In addition, >before each narrative the editor includes a short background of the >author and the larger work from which the selection is derived. > >The use of "first-person alcoholic confessions" as a method to >reform drunkards was popularized by the Washingtonian temperance >movement. Named in honor of the first president, the Washington >Temperance Society was found in 1840 in Baltimore by six former >drinkers and was based on a pledge of total abstinence from all >alcohol. Soon afterwards , Washington Temperance Societies sprung >up in communities across the nation, getting hundreds to take the >pledge. Unlike the earlier elite and religious dominated temperance >groups, who emphasized prevention and considered drunkards to be >irredeemable, the new organization actively sought out inebriates >and showed them compassion and sympathy. The central feature of the >Washingtonian meeting was the confessional speech. During their >meetings the Washingtonians would call forth drinkers from the crowd >and have them publicly sign the pledge and then tell their own >personal experiences. As Crowley notes, "Instead of cerebral >clergymen talking down to the inebriated unwashed, drunkards gave >hope and inspiration to each other through the unadorned telling of >their own life stories" (p. 7). The entertainment value of these >emotional and sometimes humorous speeches, along with the groups >emphasis on mutual assistance, appealed to many members of the >working class. > >The Washingtonian narratives that Crowley has uncovered generally >follow a similar format. The narrator describes how they developed >an appetite for alcohol, how they sank to the lowest levels of >despair, and how they were saved by the temperance pledge. These >temperance tales combine the sentimental novel and the >autobiography. Two of the narratives are fictional accounts. One, >_Confessions of a Female Inebriate_ (1842) is supposedly authored >"By a lady" but Crowley notes its author is apparently Isaac F. >Shepard. Although, the Washingtonian were male dominated, women did >organize their own Martha Washington Societies. However, this is >the only temperance narrative the editor could find that covers the >issue of female drinking. > >Very popular in their time, these temperance narratives have for the >most part been forgotten. Scholars will find interesting material >on antebellum family life, work, and gender. With their often crude >and unabashed recollections, these works provide valuable insight >into the lives of antebellum alcoholics and allow a glimpse into a >darker side of life not normally available. For instance, accounts >of domestic violence and suicide appear in the narratives. Although >the Washingtonians were a short-lived group -- by 1845 most >societies had ceased to exist -- ninety years later a new >organization, Alcoholics Anonymous, unknowingly adopted many of >their features. Indeed, the editor states that one of the reasons >he gathered these stories was that "despite their distance from our >time, [they] can still speak volumes to present-day alcoholics" >(p.x). This collection will be useful to both students of >mid-nineteenth century American history and literature. It could >also be used as a primary source for American history classes, >although the lengthy excerpt from _An Autobiography of John B. >Gough_ (which takes up over a third of the collection) could have >been shortened. Overall, Crowley has done a fine job in presenting >these tales "of Addiction, Despair, and Recovery" to a new >generation of readers. > > Copyright (c) 2000 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This > work may be copied for non-profit educational use if proper > credit is given to the author and the list. For other > permission, please contact [log in to unmask] > >