Hooked, Paul Merson
Hooked, Paul Merson
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Hooked
Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery

Author: Paul Merson

Narrator: George Greenland

Unabridged: 7 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Headline

Published: 09/16/2021


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 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

About Paul Merson

Paul Merson was born in Harlesden in March 1968. He made his debut for Arsenal in 1986, and in a 12-year stint at Highbury he won the First Division twice, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. He also won 21 caps for England.Merson went on to play for Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, as well as Walsall - where he was also manager.Following retirement in 2006, Merson has become a high-profile football pundit for Sky Sports. He is a long-serving member of the team on Soccer Saturday, the iconic results show, and also writes a regular column for the Daily Star newspaper.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alex on December 06, 2021

Seriously good.......more

Goodreads review by Andreea on June 28, 2022

This was a really honest account of addiction, particularly gambling (though alcohol and drugs are also a big part of it), which I found really important in terms of having a long overdo conversation about, especially in football, where the incentives to gamble are all over the place, from the kit s......more

Goodreads review by Ben on November 04, 2021

This was just superb. As an avid football fan and a keen watcher of Soccer Saturday for years now, Paul Mersin has always been that huge, funny personality on my screen. Talking through the matches, goals, moments and making football fun on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve heard stories of his past and th......more

Goodreads review by Terry on October 02, 2021

I've never taken drugs or gambled and enjoy a drink now and then, so Merson's story didn't relate personally, but it certainly made me think about those who do and how a destructive force it can be. At first I was thinking, like I guess most who are not 'Hooked', why don't you just stop when you can......more

Goodreads review by Phil on January 21, 2024

Fantastic. What I love most is how a bloke who is so normal, so relatable, is so candid about his mental health. There are many famous people who talk about mental health. But Merson is the type of bloke the man on the street would spend time with. Seeing him speak to openly is so powerful I've read h......more


Quotes

Brave, poignant and very moving. This book will change lives.

A courageous, emotional and vitally important book.

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