The Lost Weekend is Charles R. Jackson's (April 6, 1903 ? September 21, 1968) first novel, published by Farrar & Rinehart in 1944. It served as the basis for a film adaptation by the same name in 1945.

The book was a best-seller and received rave reviews. Philip Wylie wrote in the New York Times Book Review that "Charles Jackson has made the most compelling gift to the literature of addiction since De Quincey. His character is a masterpiece of psychological precision."[2] Sinclair Lewis called it "the only unflinching story of an alcoholic that I have ever read".[3] Anthony Slide, a modern editor notes the work is obviously semi-autobigraphical

The book was adapted into a 1945 film directed by Billy Wilder featuring Ray Milland as Don Birnam. Although the movie adaptation hews closely to the novel, the novel differed in one respect: Birnam is described in the novel as being tormented by a homosexual incident in college. That is omitted from the film.