Come and join us for an absolutely unmissable event on Thursday, February 20, to hear Eilene Zimmerman, as she talks about her searing memoir, Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy. A gripping combination of reportage and memoir, this debut memoir pieces together the mysteries surrounding the author’s ex-husband’s descent into drug addiction while trying to rebuild a life for her family. This is, unfortunately, an important and timely book - an unflinching and intimate journey into the world of white-collar drug abuse.
credit: Susan Stripling
It all began when Eilene noticed that Peter looked think and had a constant flu-like sickness he couldn’t shake. He was becoming more and more distracted and was frequently absent from activities with their children. Yet, in many ways, Peter also seemed to have it all: a beautiful house by the beach, expensive cars, and the luxuries that come 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 sixty hours a week for twenty years. When Eilene and her children were unable to reach Peter for several days, Eilene went to his house to see if he was OK….
Thus begins SMACKED and the shocking discovery that compelled Eilene to find out how a man she’d known for nearly thirty years had become a drug addict, hiding it so well that neither she nor anyone else in his life suspected what was happening. She learns that Peter led a secret life, one that started with pain 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 the underreported issue of drug addiction among ambitious, high-achieving professionals like him. How do we, as their loved ones, miss the signs? And why do they feel the need to leave extraordinarily fortunate lives for a better high?
Through extensive research and interviews, Eilene presents a picture of drug dependence today in that moneyed, upwardly mobile world; a portrait of the opioid crisis victim that we rarely see, even when they are right under our noses. SMACKED is also a poignant and deeply personal story of one woman’s attempt 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.
Eilene Zimmerman has been a journalist for three decades, covering business, technology, and social issues for a wide array of national magazines and newspapers. She was a columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business section for six years, and since 2004 has been a regular contributor to the newspaper. In 2017, Zimmerman also began pursuing a master’s degree in social work. She lives in New York City.
