J.G. is a lawyer in his early 30s. He's a fast talker and has the lean, sinewy build of a distance runner. His choice of profession seems preordained, as he speaks in fully formed paragraphs, his thoughts organised by topic sentences. He's also a worrier - a big one - who for years used alcohol to soothe his anxiety.

J.G. started drinking at 15, when he and a friend experimented in his parents' liquor cabinet. He favoured gin and whiskey but drank whatever he thought his parents would miss the least. He discovered beer, too, and loved the earthy, bitter taste on his tongue when he took his first cold sip.

Atlantic