
Smacked
A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy
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Narrated by:
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Eilene Zimmerman
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By:
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Eilene Zimmerman
About this listen
A journalist pieces together the mysteries surrounding her ex-husband’s descent into drug addiction while trying to rebuild a life for her family, taking listeners on an intimate journey into the world of white-collar drug abuse.
"A rare combination of journalistic rigor, personal courage, and writerly grace." (Bill Clegg, author of Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man)
Something was wrong with Peter. Eilene Zimmerman noticed that her ex-husband looked thin, seemed distracted, and was frequently absent from activities with their children. She thought he looked sick and needed to see a doctor, and indeed, he told her he had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Yet in many ways, Peter seemed to have it all: a beautiful house by the beach, expensive cars, and other luxuries that came with an affluent life. Eilene assumed his odd behavior was due to stress and overwork - he was a senior partner at a prominent law firm and had been working more than 60 hours a week for the last 20 years.
Although they were divorced, Eilene and Peter had been partners and friends for decades, so when she and her children were unable to reach Peter for several days, Eilene went to his house to see if he was okay.
So begins Smacked, a brilliant and moving memoir of Eilene’s shocking discovery, one that sets her on a journey to find out how a man she knew for nearly 30 years became a drug addict, hiding it so well that neither she nor anyone else in his life suspected what was happening. Eilene discovers that Peter led a secret life, one that started with pills and ended with opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamine. He was also addicted to work; the last call Peter ever made was to dial in to a conference call.
Eilene is determined to learn all she can about Peter’s hidden life, and also about drug addiction among ambitious, high-achieving professionals like him. Through extensive research and interviews, she presents a picture of drug dependence today in that moneyed, upwardly mobile world. She also embarks on a journey to re-create her life in the wake of loss, both of the person - and the relationship - that profoundly defined the woman she had become.
©2020 Eilene Zimmerman (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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This is a true story. A transparent story of the life of a young man in America, who, like many of our lost youth, found his way into the drug culture. This story is an autopsy into the mind, heart, and soul of an addict. It begins at childhood and takes us through the thoughts, turmoil, and inner conflicts of a person lost in the undercurrent of addiction, and ends in a climax of self-discovery and realization. It is a gripping tale of a suburban youth and his journey through the streets of Baltimore, institutions, prisons, addiction, and worst of all, his own mind.
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Shook One
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Being “shook” is more than a rap lyric for Charlamagne; it’s his mission to overcome. While it may seem like he is ahead of the game and should have nothing to worry about, he is still plagued by anxieties - fear of being weak; fear of being a bad dad; fear of being a worse husband; and, ultimately, fear of failure. Shook One chronicles his journey to beat back those fears and empowers you to no longer be held back from your potential.
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No sophomore slump!!
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world”. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival.
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This was painful.
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Critic reviews
“Poignant.... An engrossing narrative laden with elements of pathos and mystery.” (The Boston Globe)
“Journalist Eilene Zimmerman’s up-close-and-personal look at the cost of addiction is among the timeliest and most relevant books of the new year. Smacked is an unvarnished and wrenching exploration of opioid abuse in a wealthy, white-collar world that resonates across classes and cultures.” (Newsweek)
"A searing and extraordinary memoir, Smacked peers into the life of the white collar addict, showing us how the enslavement to not just drugs, but wealth and success, in this country can ruin marriages and families. Zimmerman achieves not just gorgeous prose and a suspenseful and engrossing story, but also more compassion and insight than I have encountered for this subject. Smacked is unputdownable and addictive, in the best way possible." (Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance)
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- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
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Story
Born to indigenous working-class Mexican immigrants in San Diego in the 1970s, Jesse Leon’s childhood was violently ruptured. A dangerous and harrowing encounter at a local gift shop when he was eleven years old left Jesse with a deadly secret. Hurt, alone, and scared for his life, Jesse numbed his pain by losing himself in the hyper-masculine culture of the streets and wherever else he could find it—in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.
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Very grateful that Jesse shared his journey
- By Adrien L on 03-02-23
By: Jesse Leon
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Things No One Else Can Teach Us
- Turning Losses into Lessons
- By: Humble the Poet
- Narrated by: Humble the Poet
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Every one of us endures setbacks, disappointments, and failures that can incapacitate us. But we don’t have to let them. Instead, we can use these events as opportunities for growth. In Things No One Else Can Teach Us, Humble the Poet flips the conventional script for happiness and success, showing us how our most painful experiences can be our greatest teachers.
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HTP’S STORY AND LESSONS LEARNED
- By jaga on 11-04-19
By: Humble the Poet
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The Sound of Rain
- Nicole Foster Thriller, Book 1
- By: Gregg Olsen
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Former homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she's flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase—whose murder case ended her career. As Nicole obsesses over the old facts, she realizes everything about that case felt off.
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Tough story
- By Health Coach on 05-06-17
By: Gregg Olsen
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A Beautiful, Terrible Thing
- A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal
- By: Jen Waite
- Narrated by: Jen Waite
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Before: Jen Waite has met the partner of her dreams. A handsome, loving man who becomes part of her family, evolving into her husband, her best friend, and the father of her infant daughter. After: A disturbing email sparks suspicion, leading to an investigation of who this man really is and what was really happening in their marriage. In alternating before and after chapters, Waite obsessively analyzes her relationship, trying to find a single moment form the past five years that isn't part of the long con of lies and manipulation.
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There are people out there waiting for her...
- By MaryPat on 08-29-17
By: Jen Waite
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Slow Motion
- A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy
- By: Dani Shapiro
- Narrated by: Dani Shapiro
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Dani Shapiro was a young girl from a deeply religious home who became the girlfriend of a famous and flamboyant married attorney - her best friend's stepfather. The moment Lenny Klein entered her life, everything changed: She dropped out of college, began to drink heavily, and became estranged from her family and friends. But then the phone call came. There had been an accident on a snowy road near her family's home in New Jersey, and both her parents lay hospitalized in critical condition.
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Even in the most mundane moments, this sings
- By Ashley Story on 01-31-21
By: Dani Shapiro
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The Open-Air Life
- Discover the Nordic Art of Friluftsliv and Embrace Nature Every Day
- By: Linda Åkeson Mcgurk
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In The Open-Air Life, Swedish-American writer Linda McGurk introduces listeners to a wide array of Nordic customs and practices that focus on slowing down and spending more and more of ones’ time outdoors. An outdoorsy cousin of hygge, friluftsliv is what Nordic people do outside all day before they cozy up in front of the fireplace with their wool socks on and a cup of hot cocoa.
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Yes, yes, yes! An amazing perspective:
- By Michael Cassidy on 04-02-25
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The Other Family Doctor
- A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality
- By: Karen Fine
- Narrated by: Karen Fine
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Karen Fine always knew that she wanted to be a vet and wasn't going to let anything stop her: not her allergy to cats, and not the fact that in the '80s veterinary medicine was still a mostly male profession. Inspired by her grandfather, a compassionate doctor who paid house calls to all his (human) patients, Dr. Fine persevered, and brought her Oupa's principles into her own practice, which emphasizes the need to understand her patients’ stories to provide the best possible care.
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Average
- By Glen I. on 04-02-23
By: Karen Fine
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Rare Breed
- A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different
- By: Sunny Bonnell, Ashleigh Hansberger
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
There is an unofficial rule for success: You need to change who you are to achieve greatness. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if you could leverage your so-called vices and shortcomings and make them your super powers? Rare Breed is an unorthodox business book for the rebels, outsiders, and provocateurs - anyone with the ambition to lead, create, inspire and provoke change on your own terms by owning all of who you are, not just the pretty parts. But be careful, each virtue has a seductive and dualistic nature that can lead to success or sabotage.
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A Standing O for these two birds
- By Kelly King on 04-05-20
By: Sunny Bonnell, and others
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Imaginary Strangers
- Dangerous Strangers Thrillers, Book 1
- By: Minka Kent
- Narrated by: Renata Friedman
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Camille Prescott has it all. A doting husband, two children, a charming home in a seaside enclave, and a beautiful, fixed smile that exudes normalcy. But behind her polished mask lurks a much different Camille—one with a padlocked vault of secrets. Raised by a vindictive and psychotic woman, Camille has gone to great lengths to bury her past and for good reason: if her mother ever finds her, she will kill her.
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Great!
- By Jesa on 09-23-24
By: Minka Kent
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The Borrower
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, 10-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan.
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Great story and great performance!
- By Anonymous User on 01-29-21
By: Rebecca Makkai
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The Unlikely Thru-Hiker
- An Appalachian Trail Journey
- By: Derick Lugo
- Narrated by: Derick Lugo
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Derick Lugo had never been hiking. He certainly couldn't imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job cut short and no immediate plans, this fixture of the New York comedy scene began to think about what he might do with months of free time. He had heard of the Appalachian Trail, but he had never seriously considered attempting to hike all 2,184.2 miles of it. Suddenly he found himself asking, Could he do it?
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On My Feet All Day
- By bannedbum on 08-21-21
By: Derick Lugo
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Flirting with Danger
- The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison, Socialite Spy
- By: Janet Wallach
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Born a privileged child of America’s Gilded Age, Marguerite Harrison rebelled against her mother’s ambitions, married the man she loved, was widowed at thirty-seven, and set off on a life of adventure. Hired as a society reporter, when America entered World War I she applied to Military Intelligence to work as a spy. Over a decade, Harrison’s mysterious adventures took her to Europe, Baghdad, and the Far East, as a socialite, secret agent, and documentary filmmaker. Janet Wallach captures Harrison’s daring and glamour in this stranger-than-fiction history of a woman drawn to the impossible.
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Interesting story bogged down by monotony of tone and pacing
- By brian on 10-16-23
By: Janet Wallach
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"Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself"
- The Mass Suicide of Ordinary Germans in 1945
- By: Florian Huber
- Narrated by: Sam Peter Jackson
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
By the end of April 1945 in Germany, the Third Reich had fallen and invasion was underway. As the Red Army advanced, horrifying stories spread about the depravity of its soldiers. For many German people, there seemed to be nothing left but disgrace and despair. For tens of thousands of them, the only option was to choose death - for themselves and for their children.
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This book should be required reading for anyone that seeks to understand how ordinary people could be transformed into monsters.
- By Anonymous User on 05-08-20
By: Florian Huber
Touching
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Great book.
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review
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Eye opening!
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Smacked
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Compassionate portrayal of addiction in a family
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Loved this book from beginning to end
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Interesting yet perhaps misleading conclusion
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Excellent Read
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Loved it! Recommend
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