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Jennifer
Rating:
Review
Augusten is back with Dry after Running With Scissors, a memoir about his wild and wacky childhood through early adulthood. He is now an adult with a full-fledged alcohol addiction and a lifestyle that is quickly going to come to a screaming halt. Augusten has no "stop meter" when it comes to drinking and will have twelve drinks to someone else's two. He surrounds himself with friends that have the same interests – going to the bar as soon as possible after work and staying there until he is drunkenly kicked out. When his boss at a marketing firm requires him to go to rehab to keep his job, his life really gets interesting. It was quite entertaining to read Augusten's take on rehab, complete with descriptions of the other people there with him, all of whom were much more in need of rehab than himself in his opinion. Having never been to rehab, thankfully, I will have to rely on his completely hilarious description of the inner-workings of a rehabilitation center.
As Augusten takes us through his rehab experience, going to Alcoholics Anonymous afterwards, dealing with his best friend's death, and "falling off the wagon", we see him grow and even learn a little from his experiences. Burroughs is a very talented writer that will keep you amused and shocked all the way through this book, just as with Running With Scissors. To know it's a memoir is almost unbelievable. But how could someone make this stuff up?
Best Line:
"….the depth of your shallowness amazes me."
Kim
Rating:
Review
I actually liked this memoir-in-continuation better than his first book, Running With Scissors. In this account, Mr. Burroughs gives sobriety a whirl, after years of trying to drink away his problems and perceived shortcomings. When the author realizes that he's allowing alcohol to control and destroy his young life, he opts for in-patient rehab in Minnesota. I laughed out loud several times while reading about his conversations and interactions with people, not only while in rehab, but once he got out and had to go back to his old/new life in New York. This book is witty, poignant, maddening, sad and straight-up all the way through. I would recommend reading this book after his first one, because I found that his background came in handy at times.
Best Line:
"This is what my friend, Suzanne, says about childbirth – that it husks the soul." Do we all have brilliant friends named Suzanne?
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