Scan barcode
A review by willkay
Dry by Augusten Burroughs
4.0
Dry by Augusten Burroughs
I had read Running With Scissors about a year ago (and I have avoided going anywhere near the film) and enjoyed it - enjoyed it in that way that you enjoy a car crash. It was not a favourite book and not that enjoyable that the first thing I did was pick up Dry and continue to read about Mr. Burroughs' trials and tribulations in the advertising world. Running with Scissors was not the "fun romp" that the back of the book promised - it was a stark, barren novel that tried to make the author's life look "fun and interesting" but, when viewed from a distance, really was awful. This was a man whose parents gave him away to his mother's psychiatrist and suffered under the hands body parts of a paedophile. Not the most fun read. In Dry the author is still suffering, this time from alcohol abuse. The thing that makes this an easier (comparatively) read is that he is now an adult, making his own decisions. This makes the book a lot more enjoyable less likely to make you hold the book at arm's length and scream "NOOOOOO!!!!" The book follows his life for a year - a year where he enters rehab, starts AA meetings, falls in love with a crack user, relapses and then recovers. He is a much more likeable character (probably because what is happening to him is his choice and you feel a lot closer to him than watching the car-crash-lifestyle of his youth, where others fucked him up [and fucked him]). I am really glad I read this book. There was a feeling at the end of Running that I didn't really care about how his life progressed, now I feel a certain sense of happiness that he is back in control of his life and it is his life.
I had read Running With Scissors about a year ago (and I have avoided going anywhere near the film) and enjoyed it - enjoyed it in that way that you enjoy a car crash. It was not a favourite book and not that enjoyable that the first thing I did was pick up Dry and continue to read about Mr. Burroughs' trials and tribulations in the advertising world. Running with Scissors was not the "fun romp" that the back of the book promised - it was a stark, barren novel that tried to make the author's life look "fun and interesting" but, when viewed from a distance, really was awful. This was a man whose parents gave him away to his mother's psychiatrist and suffered under the hands body parts of a paedophile. Not the most fun read. In Dry the author is still suffering, this time from alcohol abuse. The thing that makes this an easier (comparatively) read is that he is now an adult, making his own decisions. This makes the book a lot more enjoyable less likely to make you hold the book at arm's length and scream "NOOOOOO!!!!" The book follows his life for a year - a year where he enters rehab, starts AA meetings, falls in love with a crack user, relapses and then recovers. He is a much more likeable character (probably because what is happening to him is his choice and you feel a lot closer to him than watching the car-crash-lifestyle of his youth, where others fucked him up [and fucked him]). I am really glad I read this book. There was a feeling at the end of Running that I didn't really care about how his life progressed, now I feel a certain sense of happiness that he is back in control of his life and it is his life.