Customer Reviews

Dry

5 star:		(205)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Augusten Burroughs' last book (RUNNING WITH SCISSORS) chronicled his bizarre childhood, including his dysfunctional family, the even more dysfunctional family he lived with when his mother had a series of nervous breakdowns, and his relationship with a pedophile. DRY: A MEMOIR picks up about 10 years later; Burroughs has a successful career in New York advertising and is a raging alcoholic. He's in denial about his problem, so he's surprised when his co-workers stage an intervention and even more surprised when he reluctantly agrees to a 30-day rehab stint. The book follows his attempts to remain sober, deal with his past, and cope with some harmful romantic relationships.

The book often skewers the mental health system, replete with therapy-speak, AA meetings, and self-help lingo, However, Burroughs adopts a fairly benign, almost affectionate, tone toward mental health workers. Ultimately, DRY is filled with the kind of wit and attitude you've come to expect from Burroughs. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and I felt some real suspense reading to see whether he'd relapse.

Burroughs is quickly establishing himself as a quirky and talented writer. Although he may be pegged by some as a "gay author," his work is pretty universal and likely to appeal to many different audiences. I most highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Augusten Burroughs is one of the most entertaining writers on the current scene. After reading his RUNNING WITH SCISSORS and accepting the fact that it was truly a memoir (ie, he really DID have that childhood!), most of us who loved that book couldn't wait to see if he would be able to maintain his particular level of genius dry humor. Well, here it is. DRY is the continued life of this amazing writer. It is one of the most hilarious books around - Burroughs candid observations written sotto voce without quotation marks could be the dialogue for the best standup comedians on any stage. And he is not kidding!

A book about alcoholism, or rather about any kind of addiction (crack cocaine, alcohol, sex, heroine, etc), is not the expected basis for a comedic book. But Burroughs takes us through blitzkrieg drunkeness, living at the bottom of the toilet, commiting to rehab, then the whole process of AA meetings and therapy and manages to make us laugh uncontrollably. His cast of characters includes his co-workers in his successful career in advertising, his pre-rehab friends, his acquaintances from his gay rehab group, his assorted roommates and quasilovers, and his real devotion to Pighead, a would-be lover now dying of AIDS. Doesn't sound funny, does it? But life has its own way of offering perspectives in bizarre focal fields and Burroughs knows just how to make it all work. His life is a fantasy trip, and a dangerous one at that, but through all his highs and lows he keeps us on his side, and we willingly laugh and cry right along with him. This is a superb second book. Read them both - and then take a little time for introspection about how we all interact, knee deep in our foibles.

You will like this book:
*If you have not read too many other of Burroughs' books (some of the life details get repetitive)
*If you appreciate a cynical outlook and a dry sense of humor
*If you can handle raw, sometimes harsh details
*If you are alright reading about gay relationships and a few intimate details
*If you are moved by an honest struggle with addiction in life and want to get a glimpse of that struggle
*If you are not looking for flowery prose, but prefer direct, easy to read material that flows and doesn't linger on any one part of his life too much.

I started to give this book 4 stars, wanted to give it 3.5 (not an option) and settled on 3. It's a good, easy read - interesting and pointed. The reason I settled on 3 instead of 4 stars is that too much cynical gets tiring even for a cynical person. It is a rather dark read with some humor in the honesty of his arrogance and pride. Definitely a 3 1/2 star book.

Addiction is not funny. And recovery is not entertaining. Unless, that is, these subjects are in the hands of Augusten Burroughs. Then, it is not merely unexpectedly funny and entertaining but appropriately poignant and touching as well. In DRY, the follow-up to his bestselling memoir RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, Burroughs is all grown up and working in the cutthroat world of advertising. To cope with his high stress and demanding career, not to mention the issues and trauma surrounding his childhood, Burroughs drinks. And drinks. And drinks. In order to keep his job, Burroughs checks himself into a 30-day rehabilitation program. With the support of the rehab staff and his fellow patients, he starts to evaluate his drinking and his life, soon admitting to his alcoholism. But when he finds himself back at work, surrounded by old friends, enemies and drinking buddies, sobriety proves to be a difficult challenge.

With sobriety, Burroughs must not only come to terms with his friendship with HIV positive Pighead, he must also make painful choices about new friends and lovers. Sober living is, of course, not without its temptations and Burroughs is honest that not all of his post-rehab decisions were good ones. But honesty is a key component in DRY; it is never lacking in this memoir. Powered by lots of coffee and fresh insight, Burroughs is just as hilarious in describing his navigation of a life clean and sober as he is in describing his drunken escapades. The supporting cast is full of similarly neurotic figures, which just goes to show you that everyone has an interesting story to tell. Burroughs, however, concentrates on his own and the book reads like a cross between a great tale told to close friends, a stand-up routine and, most often, a therapeutic catharsis.

DRY is simply wonderful. It is a frightening look at an awful situation and a difficult triumph told in Burroughs's unique and hysterically funny voice. Comparisons with the work of David Sedaris are obvious, but Burroughs has a much darker and grittier side and his observances are most often pointed inward, resulting in a bittersweet and heartbreaking tale told with sarcasm, wit and laugh-out-loud moments. Augusten Burroughs is a natural storyteller and his best stories are about himself. DRY is not always comfortable, but it is never predictable and is thoroughly rewarding.

From happy hours lasting until the next day with his mortician friend, to the silly and sad rituals of rehab and recovery, from bad news boyfriends to the bedside of the ever-patient Pighead, DRY is an easy read but a hard emotional journey. It is a hip and eccentric addition to a genre that is often dull, sappy or whitewashed. For those wondering what happened to the little boy in RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, and for those meeting Burroughs for the first time in DRY, you are sure to be challenged, appalled, inspired and enchanted.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

One of the finest memoirs I've ever read, I could not put it down. It shows what the real bottom of hitting bottom in addiction is like, without the slightest bit of almost...bragging that some memoirists have done, like in Permanent Midnight, where you believe that the author is sort of secretly impressed by his low, that he's showing it off, that he's manipulating the reader. The real story of the low is horrible, it's not glamorous but it is spectacular. I truly did not understand alcoholism until I read this book. Burroughs sense of irony is brilliant. He uses it to explore a point, to take a good look at himself, not to hold the reader at arm's length or, and here I find myself saying it once again, show off. I think every Burroughs book has at least three brilliant thoughts or sentences, that are so good you want to write them down and email them to your friends, that show you something utterly familiar in an absolutely original way. This is like David Sedaris on ... well, crack. Or alcohol. I appreciate Burroughs surviving to write on. And on.

"Dry" is possibly better than "Running With Scissors." In it, Augusten Burroughs gives us a funny, but hardly light-hearted, look at his alcohol addiction and recovery. At first he pooh-poohs the idea he might have a problem, and wants to run away from the run-down rehab center he checks himself into. But along the way, something clicks, and he realizes that yes, he does have a problem, and he has to do something about it. Recovery, though, proves to be more difficult than it's advertised to be, and most of the book is dedicated to Augusten adjusting to trying to maintain sobriety in a hostile world, complete with a friend dying of AIDS, a forbidden lover whose first love is crack, and a jealous co-worker who tries to tip Augusten off the wagon. Sobriety is not for wimps, and Augusten -- and the readers -- learn this lesson the hard way. A must read for all Augusten fans and those who are struggling with any kind of addiction.

"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.

If you've read Running with Scissors and liked (or at least appreciated) it, you'd better read Dry, too. It's mostly about Augusten Burroughs's re-entry after leaving rehab after his obligatory 30 days. Somewhere in the process of his experience 'inside,' something clicked, and he actually starts to examine himself, his motivations, his life, and the choices he's made - and it's not easy. Not easy for Burroughs to live through, certainly not easy stuff to write, not all that easy to read, either, but it sure makes for a good story.
Funny, heartbreaking, and searingly true. You couldn't make this stuff up.

After reading about Augusten Burroughs train wreck of a childhood in "Running With Scissors", I didn't know if I was up for tackling his alcoholic adulthood in "Dry".
I'm glad I did. And frankly less of a tackle, than a roll with a familiar face/voice, I thought it terrific.
Having just recently read Carrie Fishers "The Best Awful" these books were like damaged book ends that both meet in the middle at rehab. But where the bulk of Fishers book was her lack of pill popping that quickly leads to her prolonged mental breakdown, Burroughs bottoms out near the start of the book, as a successful advertising whiz kid whose normal nightly consumption is at least twelve drinks. His story is of Manhattan as seen through the eyes that couldn't see before. Or at the very least focus. A dear friend sick with AIDS, a high pressure job, and a toxic crack smoking boyfriend are all potential disasters waiting to send him back to the bottle. Funny, dark and terribly honest, it's cup runs over with hope.

....had he gone through rehab and been brought up with an electroshock machine in his guardian's home, as did Augusten Burroughs, arguably one of the freshest and most exquisite humorists to grace our country post-2000. DRY is a memorable and searing romp - but without the fluff. buckle your seatbealts, it's going to be a bumpy ride -- but oh so worth it. no false trendiness here -- DRY is unlike any other recovery book out there..almost incredibly honest and dips from that dark humor into genuine grief and then, thank goodness, a sort of redemptive ending that doesn;t seem at all unlikely or forced. This is not a strictly urban read, it should resonate with any reader who has struggled with addictive tendencies, personal demons, or an unexpected U turn in the road of fortune. The sort of book that restores the spirit without the slightest bit of treacle, cliche, or predictability. Uncommonly good.