The word excess is something Zailckas refers to heavily throughout the book by outright stating it or giving underlying messages throughout the text. Koren Zailckas describes her experiences with excess in the book, Smashed, by including life stories, lessons, and a mature review of her life from her present self. Koren had always been one for overdoing it since early childhood with alcohol or relationships. These trends ultimately following Koren throughout her life and plague her mind as something she used to depreciate herself. As life progressed further her trusting of extremes had brought her to an impasse, in which she must choose her excess or a more moderate lifestyle for someone of her age. These alcoholic and relationship fails were brought with her love for the excess and the absolute trust that …show more content…
Under normal circumstances she wished to live a normal life of a normal teenage girl, which included alcohol intentionally or unintentionally. From the introduction of the book Koren seemed like a normal functioning girl until her involvement with alcohol and later, more complex emotions. Emotions such as having good friends without the guise of excess to get her point across or having a late night escapade with a boy after getting drunk to appease her self-depreciating tendencies. The emotions Koren wishes to express throughout the book normally are to help with her social side of her life. She wishes to be able to have a function relationship with another person without seeking out liquid courage. Her absolute reliance on the excess of whatever emotion she is trying to obtain is her downfall because it usually comes hand in hand with alcohol for her. The emotions she truly wants to express are located inside of her limbic system, located in her brain. Locked and stored away until the limiters are removed to the true emotional monster that is Koren