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Now You Know
In Now You Know, Kitty Dukakis speaks her mind with the same uncompromising courage and candor that characterized her appearances during the 1988 presidential campaign. She writes unflinchingly about her childhood and the realities of political life, and reveals her ongoing struggle to overcome her problem of depression and her addiction to alcohol and pills. This intimate look into the private adversities of a public person will strike a note of instant recognition in countless readers.
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First published August 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 8, 2017
In Now You Know, Kitty Dukakis speaks her mind with the same uncompromising honesty and candor that characterized her appearances during the 1988 presidential campaign. Kitty Dukakis became a household name thanks to her husband Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign. She writes unflinchingly about her mother's coldness during her childhood and the harsh realities of political life. She also reveals her ongoing struggle to overcome clinical depression and her twenty year long addiction to diet pills and alcohol - an addiction which nearly sent her spiraling out of control, and very nearly destroyed her life in the process.
Kitty was a feisty and unconventional political wife, who spent many years as such. Now, she takes the reader behind the scenes and shows us what it is really like to be running on the national campaign trail - the emotional strains of such a campaign, with all its lack of privacy; which made Kitty absolutely petrified at the prospect of victory rather than defeat. She reveals the pressures imposed on the opponents from one of the most offensive "dirty tricks"- style campaigns in recent political history and in public memory.
I must say that I found Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell to be incredibly honest. This autobiography held absolutely nothing back about Kitty's life; both public and private; and revealed everything that she - and those around her - went through while she was in the midst of her addiction. I really felt for Kitty Dukakis, and sympathized with her struggle to overcome her addiction. I rejoiced with her on her recovery, but I know that it will be a lifelong quest for Kitty to remain sober. I would certainly give Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell an A+!
Kitty was a feisty and unconventional political wife, who spent many years as such. Now, she takes the reader behind the scenes and shows us what it is really like to be running on the national campaign trail - the emotional strains of such a campaign, with all its lack of privacy; which made Kitty absolutely petrified at the prospect of victory rather than defeat. She reveals the pressures imposed on the opponents from one of the most offensive "dirty tricks"- style campaigns in recent political history and in public memory.
I must say that I found Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell to be incredibly honest. This autobiography held absolutely nothing back about Kitty's life; both public and private; and revealed everything that she - and those around her - went through while she was in the midst of her addiction. I really felt for Kitty Dukakis, and sympathized with her struggle to overcome her addiction. I rejoiced with her on her recovery, but I know that it will be a lifelong quest for Kitty to remain sober. I would certainly give Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell an A+!
July 26, 2022
Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis with Jane Scovell (Simon & Schuster 1990) (Biography) (3668).
This is a strange memoir. Part political screed and part addiction-and-recovery journal, Kitty Dukakis has her say.
Katharine Virginia Dickson Dukakis, known as Kitty, was the wife of Michael Dukakis, who was a former Massachusetts governor and the 1988 Democratic US Presidential nominee.
By her own calculation, Ms. Dukakis was a speed addict (amphetamines) for twenty-eight years. After undergoing rehab for her amphetamine addiction, she then became an alcoholic. She was hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol in 1989. She again underwent rehab. Now You Know was published in 1990 and focuses mainly upon her battle with alcohol.
Alcoholism aside, this volume reads just like it was dictated by an amphetamine addict (or an alcoholic). The author’s tone is generally shrill and defensive. This reader’s instincts warned that the author had not yet completed working through her “Twelve Step program” when this book was published, though the storyline seemed to imply that the author had successfully “taken ownership” of her recovery from drugs and alcohol.
A sad postscript is that, as in most substance abuse cases, there proved to be underlying unresolved mental health issues as well. (Ten years after the publication of Now You Know, the author was treated for major depression in 2001 through electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatments).
I hope that she has found peace and a happy life out of the public eye.
My rating: 7/10, finished 7/23/22 (3668).
June 15, 2013
Cassettes.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews