Paul Booth's Stories

Ponderings and reflections on a life — addiction, faith, family, and finding grace the hard way.

READ THE MEMOIR LATEST STORIES Counseling/Therapy Services
SCROLL

The Memoir

Ethos, Pathos, and Alcohol

A Memoir of Childhood Trauma and Resilience

Ethos, Pathos, and Alcohol is Paul Booth’s memoir of childhood trauma, addiction, faith, recovery, and the strange grace that shows up when life finally breaks open. With honesty, humor, and hard-won sobriety, Booth tells the story of a man learning how to survive himself — and eventually help others survive too.

Buy the Book Read a Sample Invite Paul to Speak

Why Trust Paul

Not just a guy with a story.

A writer with professional experience and decades of lived recovery behind every page.

Years Sober

Author

Ethos, Pathos & Alcohol

Counselor

Addiction Counselor & Psychotherapist

Decades

Guiding Recovery, Grief & Repair

“The long road back is walked the same way it was lost — one honest day at a time.”

From the writing of Paul Booth

Short Stories & Essays

Latest Stories

All Stories & Essays

The TEXT

Oct 5, 2026 |

Five Minutes from Home, My Marriage Ended It came on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon—the kind of day that disarms you by being...

read more

Reader Reactions

In their words.

Honest, funny, and deeply moving.

— Reader

A powerful recovery story.

— Workshop attendee

Paul writes with courage and grace.

— Podcast host

Podcasts & Events

Invite Paul as a guest or speaker.

A thoughtful, candid voice on recovery and the writing life — ready for your interview, panel, or workshop.

Book Paul for an Interview
  • Addiction and long-term recovery
  • Faith, grace, and sobriety
  • Writing memoir from painful material
  • The emotional cost of family wounds
  • Aging, loneliness, and starting over
  • How storytelling helps us heal

About Paul

Learning to live honestly, one day at a time.

Paul Booth is a writer, addiction counselor, and psychotherapist with more than four decades of sobriety. His work explores alcoholism, family wounds, faith, grief, humor, and the stubborn grace that keeps showing up even when life gets ugly. He lives in Ojai, California, where he writes, walks, drinks coffee, and continues learning how to live honestly — leaving a story for those who never knew his family or its elders.
More About Paul

Join the Reader List

Paul’s notes on recovery, faith & starting over.

Get a free essay — What 42 Years of Sobriety Taught Me — plus occasional reflections, new stories, and the quiet stuff worth holding onto.