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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
3.5 Apparently I'm into recovery memoirs at the moment. I hadn't read any Burroughs before (or seen the film of Running with Scissors) so didn't really know what to expect. The tone of this was good and I liked his writing style so I will be reading more of his work in the future.
Read the whole thing in a couple of hours; it's fast-paced and entertaining.
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Augusten writes about alcoholism specifically, but the emotions and thoughts he has are relateable to anyone who has craved a substance.
Despite the dark topic, the book kept me laughing: wherever Augusten goes, he has humorous observations about the world around him.
And unlike many memoirs, this book actually has a satisfying ending. I recommend it!
Despite the dark topic, the book kept me laughing: wherever Augusten goes, he has humorous observations about the world around him.
And unlike many memoirs, this book actually has a satisfying ending. I recommend it!
I enjoyed this book. It was emotional and tough to read in parts, but the dark humor carried it through. I felt almost guilty to laugh at this book, but I had to. The portrayals of characters were nuanced and well-done.
I read Running With Scissors, and I don't remember disliking it, but it did feel too much like a story, life with the edges rounded off. It's hard to say why I can think that about a book with the kinds of things that happen in it that do, but it was just a little too people-pleasing, a little too neat, even when the subject matter was difficult.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Augusten Burroughs’s Dry was a book I fell in love with. Funny, charming, and romantic. I got caught up.
Beautifully written memoir by Augusten Burroughs that details his journey through and after rehab. His journey with mental health is detailed with excruciating care and detail, with excellent wordsmithing (..I cried almost the entire way through).
Content warnings for sexual assault, alcoholism, drug use
Content warnings for sexual assault, alcoholism, drug use
Dry is a story about how Augusten Burroughs became sober. Basically, he was a huge drunk, got told to go to rehab or he would lose his job, so he went to rehab and got sober. Etc etc standard drunk story stuff.
It's an okay book. It's well written and quite engaging. The thing is, though, it is a work of creative non-fiction, in that Burroughs uses made up stories to convey the truth of what happened to him. This makes it really hard to know what is real and what is not. I didn't buy any of the stuff he said about how he got his job (he says he turned up at an ad agency at 17 and without finishing high school or knowing how to spell he was able to get a job through enthusiasm. Something in that sentence is not true). However, I did buy a lot of the stuff about his rehab. For example, he tells this really moving story about a woman who quits drinking when she finds out she has terminal cancer because she doesn't want to waste any of her remaining time drunk. I thought it was lovely, but it was completely made up. That really annoyed me - it felt like a "gotcha", where the author is trying to trick the reader. It just seems like such a pointless and self-serving thing to do. Also, Augusten is a horrible person. He knows it, he refers to it a lot in the story, but I get the impression he thinks it's no big deal but, yeah, it is. That is, if his description of his behaviour is true, which I guess we'll never know.
I wouldn't recommend this book but if you do read it, I'd consider it a fiction tale. Also, note that Augusten's birth name was Christopher and he changed it to Augusten Xon. I don't even know what to say to that.
It's an okay book. It's well written and quite engaging. The thing is, though, it is a work of creative non-fiction, in that Burroughs uses made up stories to convey the truth of what happened to him. This makes it really hard to know what is real and what is not. I didn't buy any of the stuff he said about how he got his job (he says he turned up at an ad agency at 17 and without finishing high school or knowing how to spell he was able to get a job through enthusiasm. Something in that sentence is not true). However, I did buy a lot of the stuff about his rehab. For example, he tells this really moving story about a woman who quits drinking when she finds out she has terminal cancer because she doesn't want to waste any of her remaining time drunk. I thought it was lovely, but it was completely made up. That really annoyed me - it felt like a "gotcha", where the author is trying to trick the reader. It just seems like such a pointless and self-serving thing to do. Also, Augusten is a horrible person. He knows it, he refers to it a lot in the story, but I get the impression he thinks it's no big deal but, yeah, it is. That is, if his description of his behaviour is true, which I guess we'll never know.
I wouldn't recommend this book but if you do read it, I'd consider it a fiction tale. Also, note that Augusten's birth name was Christopher and he changed it to Augusten Xon. I don't even know what to say to that.