‘Sloppy’ author Rax King says she’s inspired by writers who did their best work sober

Summary

Podcast Summary: NPR's Book of the Day – Featuring Rax King on "Sloppy"

Release Date: August 12, 2025

In this engaging episode of NPR's Book of the Day, host Juana Summers interviews author Rax King about her latest essay collection, Sloppy. The conversation delves deep into King's journey with sobriety, her evolving writing process, and the profound influence of her relationship with her father.

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Introduction to Rax King's "Sloppy"

The episode opens with a reflection from host Andrew Limbong, who shares his past misconception of the "tortured writer" archetype, where creativity is often linked to substance use. He introduces Rax King, whose new essay collection, Sloppy, explores themes of addiction and sobriety.

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Evolution from "Tacky" to "Sloppy"

Juana Summers introduces King's transition from her first book, Tacky, which celebrated culturally "tacky" aspects of life, to her new work, Sloppy.

Rax King explains:

"I had been writing some of the essays in Sloppy without having a grand unifying principle. And then... I looked up one day and realized that they were all pretty much about addiction and bad habits... So sloppiness seemed like a good, you know, organizing framework." ([01:30])

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Journey to Sobriety

King shares her personal journey, highlighting her three years of sobriety from alcohol and cocaine. She discusses the openness required to address addiction and contrasts it with the stigma often associated with it.

Rax King states:

"I feel very fortunate that I just didn't really see it that way. It was no more shameful than failing to clean my room... I was really well positioned to talk publicly about the struggles of getting sober." ([02:06])

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Changing Writing Practices Post-Sobriety

The conversation shifts to how sobriety has transformed King's approach to writing. Previously reliant on substances to enter a "writer's mood," she now seeks a quieter, more introspective creative process.

Rax King elaborates:

"I had to find ways to inhabit that generative creative mindset without just hacking my way there with substances... I'd like just endless hours of free time to drift around my brain and see what is worth getting down on paper." ([02:55])

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Debunking the "Tortured Artist" Myth

King challenges the romanticized notion of the "doomed artist" fueled by addiction. She references Leslie Jamison's The Recovering as a pivotal work that influenced her perspective.

Rax King shares:

"Being in a blackout 23 hours out of the day is actually a real hurdle to producing meaningful work. It actually gets in the way much more than it inspires or helps." ([04:12])

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Reflections on Her Father and Personal Legacy

A significant portion of Sloppy addresses King's complex relationship with her father. She portrays him as both a hero and a flawed individual struggling with addiction.

Rax King reflects:

"He was really prone to rages. And so I think he's always going to be my hero and he's always going to have been my very favorite person." ([05:36])

She further discusses the lessons learned from her father's legacy:

"Don't let things go as far as he did. Don't isolate within myself as much as he did. Don't put on a brave face as routinely as he did." ([06:27])

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Growth and Perspective Over Sobriety Years

King discusses how her perspective on sobriety has matured over three years. Initially, sobriety felt restrictive, but it has since opened her eyes to a richer, more fulfilling life.

Rax King explains:

"I no longer feel like I'm just squinting through the narrowest possible aperture at something that I'm never gonna get. I have access to the world of everything and everything in it." ([07:06])

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Conclusion

The interview wraps up with King expressing gratitude and sharing her enthusiasm for Sloppy, a candid exploration of her personal battles and triumphs over addiction. Her honest portrayal offers both solace and inspiration to listeners navigating similar struggles.

Rax King concludes:

"Thank you so much. Great to foreign." ([09:03])

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Note: Sponsorship messages and unrelated content have been excluded from this summary to maintain focus on the core discussion.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. I admit there was a stretch in my youth where I bought into the myth of the writer as drinker. I imagined all my favorite writers as being able to toss a few drinks back and then crank out the great American novel. So did the writer Rax King, who's on the pod today talking about her new essay collection, Sloppy. A lot of the book is about substances and sobriety, and she talked to NPR's Juana Summers about the writers that finally convinced her that booze and books don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. That's ahead.

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[Juana Summers]

In her first book, Rax King celebrated the things that we love that some people may think are not in good taste, like the Jersey Shore or the Cheesecake Factory. That collection of personal essays was called Tacky. Now she's out with a new book on a different theme. This one is called Sloppy.

[Rax King]

I had been writing some of the essays in Sloppy without having a grand unifying principle. And then, similar to what happened with Tacky, I looked up one day and realized that they were all pretty much about addiction and bad habits and other such things. And so sloppiness seemed like a good, you know, organizing framework.

[Juana Summers]

King is now three years sober from alcohol and cocaine. It's a topic that comes up a lot in this book, and I asked her what it's been like sharing so openly her journey through addiction and sobriety.

[Rax King]

Well, I suppose I'll say. I mean, I, I recognize and sympathize with the fact that for a lot of people, addiction is this shameful secret. And I feel very fortunate that I just didn't really see it that way. I mean, that's one benefit of having grown up in a house where both my parents were sober and in recovery. And so it was just something that was fine to talk about. Like, you know, it was no more shameful than failing to clean my room, which is another thing that I was extremely guilty of. And so it struck me that I was really well positioned to talk publicly about the struggles of getting sober and how boring everything felt for about the first solid year.

[Juana Summers]

I wonder, how did getting sober change the way that you approach your writing?

[Rax King]

Well, I mean, in a very straightforward way. My writing process before getting sober was I would hole up somewhere as private as I could, sometimes like a cheap hotel room, so in the middle of nowhere. And I would knock back a few shots in a row. If I had coke, I would do some of that as well. And that would approximate what I thought of as the writer's mood. And of course, when I quit drinking and doing coke, that was no longer available to me. I had to find ways to inhabit that generative creative mindset without just hacking my way there with substances. And it needs to be quiet. I'd like to be alone, and I'd like just endless hours of free time to drift around my brain and see what is worth getting down on paper, as opposed to what I used to do, which was just puke it all up on the page and deal with it later, Hemingway style.

[Juana Summers]

It's so funny to hear you say that, because I think for so many of us that write or in creative professions, there was this idea for so long that romanticized drinking or addiction as part of the creative process. And it sounds like for you, you found something. You found a way to create work that feels important and meaningful to you without that.

[Rax King]

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right that there's this great romance of the doomed artist, the doomed writer who's a genius, despite what a slob they are. And actually, there's a book that was really helpful to me in reconfiguring how I thought about that scenario, which is Leslie Jamison's the Recovering. And it's a deeply researched work that covers a number of writers who actually did their best stuff after they got sober, after they were in recovery, like the great Raymond Carver. He wrote most of the stories we associate with Raymond Carver after he cleaned up his act. And that wound up being inspiring to me, and it wound up teaching me what I probably should have been assuming the whole time, which is, oh, wait, being in a blackout 23 hours out of the day is actually a real hurdle to producing meaningful work. It actually gets in the way much more than it inspires or helps.

[Juana Summers]

Shifting gears a bit. I would love to ask you a little bit about your father. You write about both of your parents, but extensively about your father in this book, and it seems like the two of your relationship before he passed was pretty complex. At one point, you describe him as your hero, but you also seem to be really clear eyed about his shortcomings throughout your life. Tell us a little bit about your dad.

[Rax King]

Oh man, I love my dad so much to this day. I mean, but yeah, I certainly have no illusions about what a mess he was. Even well into recovery, he still held on to a lot of addictive behaviors. Lying, rages. Rages are really common for people in active addiction. And even when he wasn't doing drugs anymore, he was really prone to rages. And so I think he's always going to be my hero and he's always going to have been my very favorite person. And I don't know that I'll ever be done untangling the legacy that he left me. All the habits that he bequeathed to me and never showed me how to manage responsibly. Like my personality is basically his, my habits are his.

[Juana Summers]

What's the biggest lesson that you take away from your relationship with your father?

[Rax King]

Oh, that's a good question. I mean, the biggest lesson is don't let things go as far as he did. Don't isolate within myself as much as he did. Don't put on a brave face as routinely as he did. And just let people help me and try and let people love me even when I'm difficult and unpleasant, as all people are sometimes.

[Juana Summers]

I know that the essays that make up this book, they were written at different parts of your journey with sobriety. And I just wonder, over the three plus years that you have now been sober, how has your sobriety changed?

[Rax King]

Oh, I like that question a lot actually, because you're right, the essays in this book, many of which cover addiction, are covering it at different points in my sobriety. And I believe the, the first essay in there that I wrote, I believe was proud alcoholic stock. And I wrote that within weeks, if not days of quitting drinking. And I think you can tell reading it that my tone is pretty frustrated and dissatisfied. And I no longer find sobriety to be frustrating and unsatisfying. I mean, occasionally I do, you know, I'll go to, I'll go walking around and I'll see people sitting outside at a sidewalk cafe drinking Aperol spritzes. And yeah, sure, I have that moment of wow, that does look like a good time or whatever. But my sobriety has now changed to show me other things that look like fun, that aren't just centered around drinking, that aren't just centered around partying. And the way the author Melissa Phoebos described it was being in active addiction is like spending all your time squinting through a keyhole at like stuff happening behind a locked door that you can't quite make out. And meanwhile, right behind you, if you would only turn around, there's the whole wide world to explore. And that is definitely how it feels now. I no longer feel like I'm just squinting through the narrowest possible aperture at something that I'm never gonna get. I have access to the world of everything and everything in it and all the beautiful stuff that's in the world that isn't in a dime bag or a bottle of liquor.

[Juana Summers]

Author Rax King. Her new book is Sloppy Rax. Thank you so much.

[Rax King]

Thank you so much. Great to foreign.

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