Dry: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs
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Book Reviews of Dry: A Memoir
Book Review: Getting "Dry" involves more than kicking the habit
Summary: 4 Stars
In New York, in advertising, alcoholism is not a sin when it's manifested in sarcasm, verbal abuse, flakiness or paranoia. In New York, in advertising, you have a drinking problem the morning the muted odor of last night's booze wafts from your pores through a gallon of cologne while the client - a conservative suit inhabited by a man of porterhouse steaks, missionary sex and tax-friendly charitible donations - stands four feet away, narrowing his eyes at you, the creative lush, about to drown the company new line's of crap in bottles of expensive, fashionable liquid stashed in nine convenient locations around the apartment.
It's nowhere near bottom, and though that eventually becomes part of the problem, that's what passes for an addict's epiphany in Augusten Burrough's "Dry," his sharpest, saddest, most focused book, an honest retelling of his wobbly recovery from alcoholism and his eventual, total relapse (telegraphed through the entire narrative) that's more intense and devastating than his original tour of addictive duty. When Burroughs finally gets to the bottom of his self-destructive impulses - his attraction to similarly damaged souls and his almost intrinsic narcissism - he completes a suprisingly effective, witty testimonial for day-to-day recovery.
Sent to rehab when his agency thinks his addiction finally overwhelmed his creative abilities, Burroughs zips through his time at the clinic without tremendous discomfort before returning to an apartment pocked with empty bottles, trash and rotted food. He steps right back into the ad world while a best friend/lover, Pighead, struggles with AIDS and a friend from the clinic, also in recovery, moves in. Burroughs makes the AA rounds and meets his weakness: A handsome, trust-fund-rich crack addict, one part earnest, one part poisonous partyboy.
Their relationship deepens, while Burroughs' friendship with Pighead breaks apart, and one of Burroughs' ad bosses inexplicably tries to set him up. This is not the ideal life for a recovering alcoholic, a fact that becomes more clear as Pighead's condition gets worse. Burroughs' book not only shows the after-effects of alcoholism, but how a given lifestyle can play right into the hands of the bottle.
Book Review: was this really a good book?
Summary: 2 Stars
I can't help but be baffled by the high ratio of positive reviews for this book. I hadn't read his previous and listened to it on CD. I really didn't find it worth the time.
Maybe it's because I'm a recovering alcoholic and I was expecting more of the lessons of alcoholism to be explored. Maybe that's not fair, but his accounting of his time in treatment, AA, bottoming out and recovery are trite and without much personal growth. He's shallow and dryly-unfunny when he's drinking, he's shallow and dryly-unfunny when he's in treatment, then he's shallow and dryly-unfunny when he relapses and, finally, he's... you get the picture.
I just found him-- listening to his own narration of his story-- entirely unlikeable. He was un-courageous, un-remorseful, lacking in gratitude and without a shred of spiritual substance. I disliked him mostly because he seems to find himself likeable and describes his experiences with a Paris Hilton-like numb narcissism. Perhaps the positive response to his previous book went to his head.
I admit that I did want this book to unfold another alcoholic's remorse, surrender, and emotional turmoil in a manner in which I could learn from. The journey toward sobriety could be rich material for a memoir. But his journey had little to offer a fellow traveler, I felt. He just didn't seem authentic at all.
Maybe I got taken by the title-- Dry. The term "dry drunk" is something altogether alcoholic in its meaning. Why did he use that title? Maybe Burroughs doesn't realize how shallow his sobriety seems in this accounting.
Anyhoo, I'd much rather have gone to an AA meeting and listened to people less glib and more raw than who he presented here. The beauty of the AA rooms is that people don't care if they're likeable, they're just looking for a place to share and a place to ask for some help.
Book Review: Painfully vivid
Summary: 5 Stars
Augusten Burroughs has a talent for describing events with a sickening realism. Dry: A Memoir is a shining example of Burroughs talent. The book takes a dive into the life of alcohol-fueled workaholic and binge drinking Burroughs only days before an intervention sends him to rehab. The reader experiences the ups and downs of his journey and watches Burroughs troubled existence as he stumbles across his path to recovery.
Describing the book as emotional is somewhat unrealistic, as it extends deeper than the emotions that most of us can comprehend. Dry shows the cycles that Burroughs must travel through on his trip toward sobriety and the pitfalls that await him along the way. Dry also gets deeply personal diving into Burrough's personal life, his career life, and his love life. Burroughs spares nothing revealing his own personal successes and failures along with the most traumatic events that leave him teetering on the brink of relapsing.
Dry is at times painful, and you find yourself wanting to scream advice at Burroughs regarding his slip ups and the perils of substance abuse. Instead the reader is relegated to the sidelines forced to witness a series of mishaps and poor choices as Burroughs stumbles. It isn't all bad though. Dry balances Burrough's failing with his successes and his redemption. Dry is also uplifting as it shows the control that Burroughs regains over his life.
Dry a moving narrative. Burroughs does a spectacular job of conveying an extremely powerful experience through his own snarky sense of humor. I was a fan of Running with Scissors and I was a fan of Dry, but the Dry most certainly maintains a darker appeal. Dry isn't a light read, but it's certainly worth reading. It's riveting. It's harsh. It's realistic in an emotional way that most authors try to shield us from.
Book Review: Never preachy, often mocking, darkly funny, and brilliantly insightful
Summary: 5 Stars
Burroughs shook up the world with his irreverent and darkly comic memoir of his childhood, Running with Scissors. In the follow-up, he tackles a decidedly unfunny subject: alcoholism. He still manages a dark comic spin on his own alcoholism. Unlike other rehab memoirs, Burroughs doesn't open the book as a saved man who has seen the light and reflects back on his troubled days. Burroughs opens the book with him drinking every night, missing work meetings, scaring clients, and thinking he's doing fine and can stop anytime. When his co-workers convince him to go to rehab, he fully believes that he'll do a little stint in a nice, posh place with celebrities (maybe some charming gay men, too?), they'll teach him how to drink socially instead of to extremes, and he'll go back into the world as a normal social drinker. Wouldn't that be nice?
The road to sobriety is a lot harder. Burroughs makes the classic mistake of choosing a recovering(?) crack addict as the love of his life, making for a very rocky road to sobriety. In a book that is never preachy and often mocks traditional touchy-feeliness, Burroughs weaves a compelling tale about coming to terms with addition and making a better start for the interpersonal relationships in his life. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, such as, "I like the idea of seeing a shrink once a week as maintenance. It's another chance to talk about myself without being interrupted. Plus, a shrink doesn't really know me, so I can present a more balanced picture of who I really am."
For those who enjoyed Dry, Magical Thinking is a terrific follow-up about Burroughs' post-NY life in the suburbs with his partner. Also recommended is James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, and the follow-up, My Friend Leonard.
Book Review: He's a real writer after all
Summary: 5 Stars
"Running with Scissors" was such a wild ride, filled with events that would be unbelievable in fiction but are somehow all too plausible in a memoir, that it's hard to know if Burroughs' sharp, clever writing is a fluke.
It isn't. He's a real writer, and a terrific one, with an ear for the telling phrase, an eye for the incisive detail. A memoirist to treasure. Becuase of his deftness in writing and observation, it's plausible (if a long shot!) that he waltzed into an advertising job with no education and by age 25 was pulling well over six figures a year.
And it's also utterly logical that someone from his background would become a fall-down, functional drunk. Dry is the story of his descent to the brink and his hilarious recovery in rehab-- he mocks it all the way and yet concedes that it works.
It's also, surprisingly, a love story, and often a touching one, though it lacks a happy ending.
This is less episodic than Running with Scissors, and depending on your taste you'll either find it more cohesive or less original. I'm not sure which I prefer-- maybe Running, but only because it was so out there and yet so comic-- and yet I have no doubt that this is as truthful, unsparing and funny a portrait of the lure of addiction than exists. Burroughs has no self-pity; his justifiable anger at the outrageous behavior of his caregivers emerges seldom, and his humor and charm shine.
There's an excerpt from a third volume which seems to be another memoir, but this one focuses more on his life as an adman. I can't wait. Whatever he turns his hand to writing he captures in irresistable momentum; I read this in one day. Burroughs is a writer to treasure.