The Story (So Far)

In 2016, A.J. Daulerio completed a stint at a Florida rehab facility and left feeling severely depressed. He typed into Google, "I'm 50 days sober and I want to run into traffic." What came up were ads for more rehab programs, the suicide hotline, and an AP story about Demi Lovato.

That's when he started thinking about what would eventually become The Small Bow. Launched in 2017, it began as an extension of his post-Gawker, post-trial, post-substances life—a place for spare, elegant, witty essays about the stuff at the heart of substance use: a search for meaning, grappling with fear, a longing for joy and connection.

Today, a growing community of subscribers read, listen, share and connect through the Small Bow. Our community includes all manner of drunks, depressives, addicts, and other chronic sufferers—all trying to find some measure of emotional sobriety.

The name comes from a reference to author Charles Jackson ("The Lost Weekend")—described as "a literary almost-hero who bore too great a wound and too small a bow."

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