EW article on addiction

[kriebelj]

Years ago, probably in the 2003-2004 range, Stephen King wrote about addiction (specifically as a disease characterized by lying) in an entertainment weekly article. This may have even preceded his "Pop of King" days...or at least maybe it was when he wrote less frequently for the magazine. (Am I imaginng it or wasn't there a time when he was the only alternate contributor when that one guy who writes for Time now had an off week?) I thought it was very well done and succinct, and kept it for years. Unfortunately, it's gone now and I wanted to refer to it. I searched EW's archives, as well as every possible iteration I could think of online. Can anyone help?

[randallFlaggfan1]

Unfortunately, I did not know that King wrote an article about addiction. I would certainly be interested, though.

Welcome to the Board!

[Bryan James]

It may be an excerpt/derivation from his excellent "On Writing," but if not, I'd like to see a copy also.

~BJS

[nygene40]

I think this is it: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1155752,00.html

[aced1026]

that's so crazy, i was looking for that also. since you seemed to have spent so much time looking for it, i guess we'll just have to wait for a reply. i know it is NOT that article in EW

[Doc Wilson]

It may be an excerpt/derivation from his excellent "On Writing,"
~BJS

I bet that's it.

[Charms7]

"Substance abusers lie about everything, and usually do an awesome job of it. I once knew a cokehead who convinced his girlfriend the smell of freebase was mold in the plastic shower curtain of their apartment's bathroom. She believed him, he said, for five years (although he was probably lying about that, it was probably only three). A recovering alcoholic friend of mine reminisces about how he convinced his first wife that raccoons were stealing their home brew. When she discovered the truth, she divorced him."

This is taken directly from the article mentioned by nygene40. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but it sure seems to fit to me.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1155752,00.html

[Bryan James]

"...Substance abusers lie about everything, and usually do an awesome job of it.... (From the article) http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1155752,00.html

Yep. We can be quite ingenious despite being losers. That monkey is very creative. I never drank the minty Scope, but I was great at buying extra long dress socks so I could smuggle home pints of Smirnoff under my pant legs. Or I'd carry a few books in front of me to hide the liquor bottle that was tucked in the front of my shorts and resting on my dingus.

The Brilliant List of Nothing (good name for a story) goes on, and on, and on...

~BJS

[kriebelj]

There was definintely an article that preceded this one (long story about why I remember which house I lived in when it came out, and specifically who I was livng with at the time but you can imagine what flaw that particular relationship had)...who knows, maybe it was even in a different magazine. However this article pretty much sums it up. I have to say I really enjoy SK's fiction, but his take on real life is even better.

Thanks to everyone who helped!