Hooked

Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery

By: Paul Merson

Narrated by: George Greenland

Shortlisted for the 2022 Sports Book Awards

Paul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.

For 21 years, Paul Merson played professional football. He won two First Division titles with Arsenal and was one of the finest players of his generation.

But for 30 years, Paul Merson has also been an addict. Alcohol, drugs, gambling: a desperately unenviable cocktail of addictions and depression which has plagued his entire adult life and driven him to the verge of suicide. 'I've come to realise that I'm powerless over alcohol...I'm an alcoholic. My drinking and gambling have left a lot of wreckage.'

Until recently, the drinking and gambling were still raging. 'I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't go on anymore. I just couldn't see a way out.' Then something clicked. 'One day, I was walking home from the pub late on a Sunday evening, and I thought to myself: I've had enough of feeling like this, every day of my life. I rang up Alcoholics Anonymous the next day, and since then I haven't had a drink.'

Hooked is Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction, searingly charting his journey over three decades. It is absolutely unflinching in detailing his emotional and psychological troughs and in raking over the painful embers of an adult life blighted by such debilitating issues. Hooked will kick-start a crucial national conversation about addiction, depression and the damage they wreak.

'Addiction is the loneliest of places. You're a slave to insecurity and ego. But it has to be you that wants things to change. Never be afraid to talk: the more you talk about the addictions, the more it takes the power out of them. You're never alone.'

©2021 Paul Merson (P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

"Brave...visceral...a brilliant, brilliant read.... I would recommend this book to everyone." (Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5 Live)

"So honest...everybody should read Hooked to understand what anybody in this situation has been through." (Susanna Reid, Good Morning Britain)

"A fantastic book...a remarkable read." (Richard Madeley, Good Morning Britain)

"Brave, poignant and very moving. This book will change lives." (Jamie Redknapp)

"A courageous, emotional and vitally important book." (Jeff Stelling)

Wow

I can relate to so much of this, though my addictions are not the same as Paul’s they have the same effects on me. The way Paul explains and talks about his experiences I told myself “that’s the exact same way I feel”

Thank you Paul, thank you!

We are not alone

Must read for any football fan

fantastic insight into addiction with some great story telling too. a must for any football fan.