Dry: A Memoir
Author: Augusten Burroughs
From the bestselling author of Running with Scissors comes Dry—the hilarious, moving, and no less bizarre account of what happened next.You may not know it, but you've met Augusten Burroughs. You've seen him on the street, in bars, on the subway, at restaurants: a twenty-something guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. Ordinary. But when the ordinary person had to drinks, Augusten was circling the drain by having twelve; when the ordinary person went home at midnight, Augusten never went home at all. Loud, distracting ties, automated wake-up calls, and cologne on the tongue could only hide so much for so long. At the request (well, it wasn't really a request) of his employers, Augusten landed in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey, Jr., are immediately dashed by the grim reality of fluorescent lighting and paper hospital slippers. But when Augusten is forced to examine himself, something actually starts to click, and that's when he finds himself in the worst trouble of all. Because when his thirty days are up, he has to return to his same drunken Manhattan life—and live it sober. What follows is a memoir that's as moving as it is funny, as heartbreaking as it is real. Dry is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a higher power.
The New York Times
Mr. Burroughs remains ebulliently glib when it's useful, as befits his advertising skills. But Dry also deals with two deaths: his lover's and, very nearly, his own. These are no laughing matters, but Mr. Burroughs remains adept at mixing comedy and calamity. — Janet Maslin
Publishers Weekly
Imagine coming home to find hundreds of empty scotch bottles and 1,452 empty beer bottles in your apartment. This is what Burroughs (Running with Scissors) encountered upon returning from Minnesota's Proud Institute (supposedly the gay alcohol rehab choice). "The truly odd part is that I really don't know how they got there," admits Burroughs in this autobiographical tale of being a prodigy with an extremely successful career in advertising and a drive to get as wasted as possible as often as possible. Burroughs's telling of the tale alternates among hilarious, pathetic, existential and hopeful. It is an earnest and cautionary tale of calamity, brimming with Sedaris-like darkly comic quips: "Making alcoholic friends is as easy as making sea monkeys." Burroughs's slight Southern accent and gentle yet glib delivery should summon empathy on the listener's part that may have been lost with another reader. From Minnesota, Burroughs returns to New York and participates in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Like James Frey in the similar yet very different book, A Million Little Pieces (see audio review, below), Burroughs believes that when rehab is over, he must walk into a bar to see if he can resist the temptation to drink. Though not a technique condoned by A.A., it certainly makes for a fascinating listening experience. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Forecasts, Apr. 21). (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Burroughs's memoir of his troubled childhood, Running with Scissors, which was recently issued in paperback, captured considerable attention and even had a run on the New York Times's best sellers list. This sequel is an account of his early adult life as an advertising executive in New York City attempting to recover from alcoholism. He begins his advertising career as a 19-year-old with intelligence and a flair for writing but no education past elementary school. But scars remain from the years with his alcoholic father, his lunatic mother, and her wacky psychiatrist, and drinking slowly becomes the focus of his life. Consuming prodigious amounts of alcohol often leaves him hung over and reeking, causing his employer to urge him to attend rehab for a month. He chooses a hospital for gays in Minnesota and, after a week or so, begins to gain some insight about his drinking. After rehab, he returns to his apartment and begins to gather up the 27 large garbage bags of liquor bottles he has accumulated. With irreverent and humorous touches, Burroughs manages to personalize the difficulties of recovery without ever lapsing into sentimentality. This heartfelt memoir will interest readers who enjoyed his debut and those wanting new insights into addiction and recovery. Recommended for large public libraries.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Like the alcohol he so enjoys, Burroughs's story of getting dry will go straight into your bloodstream and leave you buzzing, exhilarated, and wiped out. Burroughs is a malcontented, successful advertising copywriter: in his 20s, gay, living in Manhattan, and owner of a childhood that the word "nightmare" doesn't even begin to cover (as described in Running With Scissors, 2002). Burroughs is an alcoholic, a true-blue, two-fisted, drink-till-you-see-the-spiders-on-the-wall alcoholic. He is not, as he would say, the man you'd want operating the cotton gin—he is funny and dark. This is his story of trying to keep the next drink from coming. Declaring he's "vain and shallow"—"If I were straight, I am certain I would be one of those guys who goes to wet T-shirt contests and votes with great enthusiasm"—he's quick to strike a pose to admire his silhouette; but in his own half-mad way, he's an original, a step aslant of the cutting edge, and wonderfully capable of expressing the miseries and sublimities of detox. It starts with his agreement—dry out, or get fired—to enter rehab; he chooses a gay clinic in Minnesota: "a rehab hospital run by fags will be hip. Plus there's the possibility of good music and sex." Reality quickly intrudes when the clinic staff checks him for cologne ("Oh, you'd be surprised by the things alcoholics will try and sneak in here to drink") and proceeds along a circuitous path thereafter, with plenty of opportunities for cliffhanging—bad decisions in his love life; a coworker trying to sabotage his efforts to reform; AA abandonment; his best friend's death; the "alcoholic terrorist" in his head—weaving in and out of gallows humor and ahoned starkness. In the end, it's all up to Burroughs, and to give the end away would be criminal, for this memoir operates on a high level of involvement and suspense. Didn't think you'd ever feel even an ounce of sympathy for—let alone root for—a drunken adman, did you? Meet Mr. Burroughs. Agent: Christopher Schelling/Ralph M. Vicinanza Ltd.
What People Are Saying
Robert Sabuda
From the master pop-up artist:
I'll never complain about having a "tough day" again.... This memoir is so brutal, yet funny -- it should be required reading for anyone touched by the specter of substance abuse.
Books about: Notes on Democracy or The Fatal Conceit
Lean Mommy: Bond with Your Baby and Get Fit with the Stroller Strides Program
Author: Lisa Druxman
Lisa Druxman, a certified personal
trainer and fitness professional,
knows one of the challenges new
moms face: How do I get back
into shape after giving birth?
After Lisa gave birth to her first
child, she developed exercises
that she could do with her baby,
using power walks, the stroller,
and exercise tubing. Now she
brings the proven techniques of
Stroller Strides to moms everywhere, with a total f tness
program for pre- and postnatal fitness and nutrition.
In addition to stroller-based workouts, Lisa outlines
front-pack carrier workouts and eating plans to combat
post-baby weight gain, energy loss, and mood swings.
LEAN MOMMY gives moms the ability to have it all:
satisfying workouts, real results, and bonding time
with baby.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Mom, a Baby, and a Mission xiYour Post-Baby Body 1
What You Think About the Way You Look 13
Know Thyself 23
Nuts and Bolts Fitness 41
Moms on the Move 53
The Lean Mommy Plan 71
The Stroller Workout 81
The Baby Weight Workout 107
The Mom-Has-Just-a-Minute Workout 125
The Stretching Workout 147
What You Eat 161
How to Eat 171
Be an Opti-Mom 185
Troubleshooting Tough Times 197
Your Lean Future 207
Resources 209
Index 215
About the Authors 221
No comments:
Post a Comment