image of person or book cover 5571735681828881351.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Maybe it was fitting to get shitfaced at Alexander’s wake. ‘He would have wanted it,’ people said. And they were probably right, because he was only twenty-one. We drank with a sad urgency, turning the reason for our grief into its elixir.

'In 2009 Elspeth Muir’s youngest brother finished his last university exam and went out with some mates to get drunk. Later that night he wandered to the Story Bridge. He put his phone, wallet, T-shirt and thongs on the walkway, climbed over the railing, and jumped thirty metres into the Brisbane River below.

'Three days passed before police divers pulled his body out of the water. When Alexander had drowned, his blood-alcohol reading was almost 0.3.

'Why do some of us drink so much, and what happens when we do? Fewer young Australians are drinking heavily, but the rates of alcohol abuse and associated problems —from blackouts to sexual assaults and one-punch killings—are undiminished.

'Intimate and beautifully told, urgent and confronting, Wasted mixes memoir with reportage to illuminate the sorrows, and the joys, of drinking.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 5571735681828881351.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 240p.
      Note/s:
      • Published June 2016
      ISBN: 9781922182135,

Works about this Work

[Review] Wasted Diana Carroll , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 20 August 2016; (p. 40)

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
August in Nonfiction Sarah Burnside , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , August 2016;

— Review of Thicker Than Water Cal Flyn , 2016 single work biography ; Giving This Country a Memory : Contemporary Aboriginal Voices of Australia Anne Brewster , 2015 multi chapter work interview ; Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography ; A Long Time Coming : Essays on Old Age Melanie Joosten , 2016 selected work essay
A Wasted Life 2016 single work interview
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 46-47)
'Think of the typical problem drinker, and you probably imagine drink-drivers, underage guzzlers and the perpetrators of one-punch attacks. The brother of Elspeth Muir, however, was none of these. But three days after a night of heavy drinking, he was found dead in the Brisbane River – his blood alcohol level was 0.25 at his time of death. We asked Elspeth to tell us about her memoir, Wasted, a memoir about her brother and an investigation into Australia’s drinking culture.'
Review : Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Angus Dalton , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 54)

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
Book Review: Elspeth Muir's Memoir Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death Dominic Amerena , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 23 July 2016;

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
'In 2009 Elspeth Muir's 21-year-old brother Alexander jumped from the Story Bridge into the Brisbane River, after a night of heavy drinking. His body was found three days later, with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.25, almost five times the legal limit. ...'
Elspeth Muir, Wasted JD , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 28 May 2016;

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
Book Review: Elspeth Muir's Memoir Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death Dominic Amerena , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 23 July 2016;

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
'In 2009 Elspeth Muir's 21-year-old brother Alexander jumped from the Story Bridge into the Brisbane River, after a night of heavy drinking. His body was found three days later, with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.25, almost five times the legal limit. ...'
Review : Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Angus Dalton , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 54)

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
August in Nonfiction Sarah Burnside , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , August 2016;

— Review of Thicker Than Water Cal Flyn , 2016 single work biography ; Giving This Country a Memory : Contemporary Aboriginal Voices of Australia Anne Brewster , 2015 multi chapter work interview ; Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography ; A Long Time Coming : Essays on Old Age Melanie Joosten , 2016 selected work essay
[Review] Wasted Diana Carroll , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 20 August 2016; (p. 40)

— Review of Wasted : A Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane Elspeth Muir , 2016 single work autobiography
'Alcohol Was There, Always' : Elspeth Muir on Her Brother's Death and Australia's Drinking Culture Lou Heinrich , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 20 June 2016;
'After her 21-year-old brother jumped drunk into a river and drowned, the Brisbane writer reflects on a destructive force that Australia isn’t talking about.'
A Wasted Life 2016 single work interview
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 46-47)
'Think of the typical problem drinker, and you probably imagine drink-drivers, underage guzzlers and the perpetrators of one-punch attacks. The brother of Elspeth Muir, however, was none of these. But three days after a night of heavy drinking, he was found dead in the Brisbane River – his blood alcohol level was 0.25 at his time of death. We asked Elspeth to tell us about her memoir, Wasted, a memoir about her brother and an investigation into Australia’s drinking culture.'
A Heartfelt Tale Gains Book Prize Nomination Phil Brown , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 7 September 2016; (p. 21)

'writing about her brother’s death was the hardest thing Brisbane author Elspeth Muir has ever done.'

'Her book Wasted, which is subtitled A story of alcohol, grief and a death in Brisbane, is as moving as it is heartbreaking and has been nominated for The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year award. ...'

Last amended 23 Mar 2021 08:22:56
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