Rating: 
Summary: Misleading title
Review: In reviewing a book, one must have a basis from which to start. In considering Cheever's book, I cannot fathom where to start a conclusive review because the entire title of the novel is completely misleading. My intent in reading this autobiography was to learn more about an alcoholic firsthand, in her own words. Unfortunately, there was very little substantial material written about alcoholism, its effects, repercussions, etc. In fact, had that title been different I would have probably enjoyed this bland book about a woman's life tinged with alcohol, among many other things which were given just as much attention in the book. Therefor I find it useless to judge this book because it is based on so many vacant concepts.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading title
Review: In reviewing a book, one must have a basis from which to start. In considering Cheever's book, I cannot fathom where to start a conclusive review because the entire title of the novel is completely misleading. My intent in reading this autobiography was to learn more about an alcoholic firsthand, in her own words. Unfortunately, there was very little substantial material written about alcoholism, its effects, repercussions, etc. In fact, had that title been different I would have probably enjoyed this bland book about a woman's life tinged with alcohol, among many other things which were given just as much attention in the book. Therefor I find it useless to judge this book because it is based on so many vacant concepts.
Rating:
Summary: How sad for her children!
Review: Like many other readers, I was appalled by Cheever's book. Her self-absorption and narcissism seem to have survived her drinking days. This book would be merely another volume in the "me first" series of self-revelatory accounts we've had to endure lately, except that there are children involved. Cheever seems to have given no thought to her kids' welfare as she moved from place to place and man to man. Her confessions of faith at the end of the book are totally unconvincing. She's revealed herself to be an immature and irresponsible woman.
Rating:
Summary: Flat, trite, whatever...
Review: Note Found in a Bottle : My Life As a Drinker by Susan Cheever is, as I write this, number 1,058 in popularity here @ Amazon. You'd think that a freshly published, promoted book would be a little higher up. And the reason for this? A few wordaholics read it early on and passed along the word that Note Found in a Bottle is simply awful.Why is it awful? Because it offers no fresh perspective on alcoholism. It offers no new twist, third eye. And it's poorly written. Reading the book, I found myself laughing out loud, not because it's funny, but because it's so tepid. It's SO bad, it's almost good. Alcoholism is a great topic; what could be brave, funny, insightful and unique, is reduced to bland confessional blah. Susan Cheever has no reason to own word processing software. This book is absolutely terrible. The woman simply cannot write. If you must read this book, borrow it from somebody. After the third page, you'll give it back. If Amazon had a "zero stars" rating, I would have chosen that. In this case, one star is one too many.
Rating: 
Summary: A brave look at alcoholism
Review: Susan Cheever has written a sad and elegant book about alcoholism. NOTE FOUND IN A BOTTLE makes plain that regardless of the privilege of being a member of an honored American literary family -- and the good things that come with it -- alcoholism surely and subtly eroded the foundations of that life. The book describes good fortune turned into something quite else, a life rocked by the kind of devil that fame and money and influential friends can't dislodge. Her alcoholism, as Miss Cheever tells it, needed to be quieted by other means, and slowly, with difficulty and with help, understood. As a reader, I am moved by her struggle, its failures and its moments of grace; I'm thankful for the understanding she offers: Alcoholism will wreck your life from the inside out, no matter what that life might look like. Surely this is a message that can't be delivered too often.
Rating:
Summary: no truth here
Review: Susan Cheever has written a superficial, narcissistic account of her life as a drunk. Even as she purports to be giving a tell-all account of her years of drinking, as a reader I had the feeling that she wrote nothing that she thought would make her appear "uncool". Plenty of name-dropping and anecdotes designed to illustrate just how hip she really is, drunk or not. There must have been plenty of disgusting episodes not revealed here. More to the point, the author as yet doesn't realize just how unhip a drunk can be and presents her story as a romp through jet set life, glossing over the devastation I'm sure she left behind. The people who wrote the blurbs for the jacket have lost my respect forever.
Rating:
Summary: the woman who mistook herself for an interesting person
Review: Susan Cheever is convinced of the noteworthiness of her every experience, and of the artistry of her every sentence. She is wrong on both counts. It has clearly been a difficult life, but being the daughter of John Cheever and possessing minuscule talent or grace are not sufficient attributes to warrant the existence of this book. She thinks she produces Great Literature, but this isn't even Good Enough Literature. John Cheever may well have been just as selfish and manipulative, but he could write. And he may have been vain, but he wasn't an exhibitionist. If Susan Cheever isn't embarrassed by her choices and outlook, then she isn't going to be embarrassed by this book, either. But the rest of us can only cringe.
Rating:
Summary: no truth here
Review: Susan Cheever presents a picture of an alocholic who is sophisticated, talented and brilliant, but a drunk nonetheless. In telling her no-holds- barred story, she addresses millions who believe that their accomplishments, their clothing and their connections completely separate them from the drooling, the homeless and the crazies we all know to be alcoholics. Her story presents without varnish the moral degeneration and denial of personal responsibility brought about by her drinking. She does not polish sobriety either...thank God she did not become the perfect human like so many of the reformed. Thanks to Susan for the trip through the reality that does not contain all of the answers. Too bad so many readers are willing to fault her for not trying to give what she doesn't have.
Rating: 
Summary: Reality With No Answers
Review: Susan Cheever presents a picture of an alocholic who is sophisticated, talented and brilliant, but a drunk nonetheless. In telling her no-holds- barred story, she addresses millions who believe that their accomplishments, their clothing and their connections completely separate them from the drooling, the homeless and the crazies we all know to be alcoholics. Her story presents without varnish the moral degeneration and denial of personal responsibility brought about by her drinking. She does not polish sobriety either...thank God she did not become the perfect human like so many of the reformed. Thanks to Susan for the trip through the reality that does not contain all of the answers. Too bad so many readers are willing to fault her for not trying to give what she doesn't have.
Rating:
Summary: This book is self-absorbed, sloppy, and profoundly ugly.
Review: Susan's Cheever's surname seems to have blinded most of the professional reviewers to the true nature of this book. The tone is whining adolescent, the prose is appalling, when it isn't incomprehensible, and her "insights" beggar description. It is sloppy and trivial, and reveals the author's true nature much more clearly than she realizes. Her self-absorption is perfect. She seems to feel she is a wonderful person who was led astray by alcohol. Quite obviously, she is a dreadful person who behaves even worse when she is drunk. Her accounts of her various marriages and love affairs make quite clear her total indifference to the anguish she has caused in her single-minded pursuit of happiness. Perhaps the reviewers read a different book?
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