Listen to a sample
Hooked
- Author
- Paul Merson
- Narrator
- George Greenland
- Publisher
- Headline
- Publish Date
- 16 September 2021
- Run Time
- 7 hours 28 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Rating
- 4.5 (2 reviews)
What to expect
'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
Paul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.
For twenty-one 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 thirty 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.'
(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited
Critics Review
-
Brave, poignant and very moving. This book will change lives.
Jamie Redknapp
-
A courageous, emotional and vitally important book.
Jeff Stelling
-
Even when baring his soul, Paul Merson is entertainingly fluent in the language of football. The Merse's new book, Hooked, is frank, sometimes funny, often horrifying.
Irish Examiner
User Reviews
Book 4.5
Narration 4.0
-
5.0 5.0
Brutally honest about addiction. The highs, the lows and living with an illness. Paul’s open and honest about what he’s been through, in the public eye where he couldn’t hide - in the end. What it’s like and how he’s let and hurt loved ones because he was selfish because that’s what addiction does. Inspiring and people who are ill because they’ve become an addict - can find the light and learn to live a new way. One day at a time. Well worth listening to if you are an addict or love an addict and more so if you love football as he was one of the greatest
AmberButton 2026-05-27
Details
- Author
- Paul Merson
- Narrator
- George Greenland
- Duration
- 7 hours 28 minutes
- Release Date
- 16 September 2021
- ISBN
- 9781472282552
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Headline
- Genre
- Autobiography: sport, Association football (Soccer), Addiction and therapy, Memoirs
- Rating
- 4.5(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 4.0(2 reviews)
Synopsis
Shortlisted for the 2022 Sports Book Awards'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 StellingPaul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.For twenty-one 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 thirty 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.'(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited
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