Drink Your Way Sober - Blocked (Receptors) and Reported (Sobriety)

Part memoir, part science writing, part history, and a lot of blaming her neighbor for her empties.

Drink Your Way Sober: The Science-Based Method to Break Free from Alcohol

By: Katie Herzog Published: 2025 208 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

You may be familiar with Katie Herzog from Blocked and Reported, the podcast she hosts with Jesse Singal. Or you might have seen her byline on the Free Press. What I didn't know (at least before she started promoting this book) is that she's also a recovering alcoholic. I also didn't know about the Sinclair Method for "extinguishing" alcohol use disorder (AUD). Finally I didn't know that we are now calling it alcohol use disorder. So you could say this is a book about a bunch of things I didn't know.

What's the author's angle?

Herzog failed to get her drinking under control using any of the more common methods. Willpower, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), overwhelming shame, etc. The Sinclair Method was what finally worked for her. This method involves taking naltrexone before you drink. This blocks the reward circuit allowing you to train your body out of alcohol dependence. It's also something that not a lot of people have heard about, so her angle resembles that of a fiery recent convert, who believes that people trapped in similar despair need to hear the good word.

Who should read this book?

As someone who's never had a drink, I'm loath to recommend anything in the sobriety space. In the same manner that a fish doesn't know about water, can I have anything meaningful to say about sobriety? That very large caveat aside, if you have AUD, and nothing else has worked, and you haven't tried the Sinclair Method (or if you know someone who fits this category) I would definitely recommend this book.

If you're thinking of reading it just as Herzog memoir, there's some pretty good stuff in here, but not enough to justify reading the entire book. But if you're on the fence I would push you towards getting the book.

Specific thoughts: So why isn't the Sinclair Method better known?