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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
A memoir of Augusten Burroughs' struggle to get sober. Honest and sharp and told wonderfully.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I really wish they had half stars on this site. I'd give it a 3.5, it's like a snapshot of a specific time in the author's life. Very interesting.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
Wherever you exist on the drinking spectrum, from teetotaler to fish-like drinker or anywhere in between, it matters not with respect to this book. I recommend it for anyone who has ever thought of making even the tiniest change of any kind in their life. And it has many, many parts that are very, very funny.
This collection focuses on augustens struggle with alcoholism ... Insightful and witty.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Apparently, I am drawn to books written by gay men. I've never read any of Burroughs' work before, but own a copy of "Running with Scissors" that looked good from the dust jacket summary. This one makes me laugh and question whether I, too, might be an alcoholic since I've justified my drinking with many of the same excuses: "That person criticizing me never has any fun," "What else am I supposed to do in my 20's?" and my favorite, "I hate people who don't drink." For the record, I am NOT an alcoholic. But if my boss sent me to rehab for 30 days I would be like, "Cool, 30 days paid vacation? Thanks!"
P.S. Now that I've finished I can comment more about the whole book. First off, 30 days of rehab no longer sounds like fun. It sounds like an extended version of a church lock-in I attended in high school that was full of awful self-esteem boosting exercises. Everyone talks about their feelings all day. No wonder they all wanted to drink more than anything in the world.
It was heartbreaking and funny, although I suppose the progression of the author's alcoholism from denial to acceptance to sobriety to relapse and back again was exactly the formula I expected. Imagine how bad the reviews would have been if he went to rehab and came out still thinking it was a load of garbage that did not teach him anything?
I suppose it was inspiring if you need help warding off the drink, but I'm not going there. I love the drink. I will say I could relate to the author's addiction to Foster, the hot crack addict. And I cried twice while listening to passages about Pighead, the author's best friend with HIV.
P.S. Now that I've finished I can comment more about the whole book. First off, 30 days of rehab no longer sounds like fun. It sounds like an extended version of a church lock-in I attended in high school that was full of awful self-esteem boosting exercises. Everyone talks about their feelings all day. No wonder they all wanted to drink more than anything in the world.
It was heartbreaking and funny, although I suppose the progression of the author's alcoholism from denial to acceptance to sobriety to relapse and back again was exactly the formula I expected. Imagine how bad the reviews would have been if he went to rehab and came out still thinking it was a load of garbage that did not teach him anything?
I suppose it was inspiring if you need help warding off the drink, but I'm not going there. I love the drink. I will say I could relate to the author's addiction to Foster, the hot crack addict. And I cried twice while listening to passages about Pighead, the author's best friend with HIV.