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Monday, April 12, 2004 :::

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Rating:

Why I read it: Because I loved Running with Scissors.

What I think about it: Rehab stories are kind of passe. Almost as passe as using the word passe. Usually I'd stay miles away from any story about recovering addicts, just because what more can be said about being sad and drunk? But in his new memoirs, Augusten Burroughs throws in wryly observed stories about over-paid advertising executives, crack-addict lovers, mortician friends, and spiteful mormons. His self-awareness about the inherent hokiness in twelve-step programs and AA meetings helps to alleviate the platitude of the subject matter, and his characters are so well-drawn that you can't help but empathize with every one of them. In the end, the story is more about hiding from emotion than it is about alcoholism, and finding out how Auggie would survive going off the deep end was my primary motivation for an entire week. On a whole, this book seems more cohesive as a complete story than Running With Scissors did, but oddly, he seems to rush through the resolution quicker than I would have liked, lessening the impact a bit. A very fun and engaging book, nevertheless.

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::: posted by dan at 1:05 PM :: #