Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Fans of Augusten Burroughs's darkly funny memoir Running with Scissors were left wondering at the end of that book what would become of young Augusten after his squalid and fascinating childhood ended. In Dry, we find that although adult Augusten is doing well professionally, earning a handsome living as an ad writer for a top New York agency, Burroughs's personal life is a disaster. His apartment is a sea of empty Dewar's bottles, he stays out all night boozing, and he dabs cologne on his tongue in an unsuccessful attempt to mask the stench of alcohol on his breath at work. When his employer insists he seek help, Burroughs ships out to Minnesota for detoxification, counseling, and amusingly told anecdotes about the use of stuffed animals in group therapy. But after a month of such treatment, he's back in Manhattan and tenuously sober. And while its one thing to lay off the sauce in rehab, Burroughs learns that it's quite another to resume your former life while avoiding the alcohol that your former life was based around. This quest to remain sober is made dramatically more difficult, and the tale more harrowing, when Burroughs begins an ill-advised romance with a crack addict. Certainly the "recovered alcoholic fighting to stay sober" tale is not new territory for a memoirist. But Burroughs's account transcends clichés: it doesn't adhere to the traditional "temptation narrowly resisted" storyline and it features, in Burroughs himself, a central character that is sympathetic even when he's neither likable nor admirable. But what ultimately makes this memoir such a terrific read is a brilliant and candid sense of humor that manages to stay dry even when recalling events where the author was anything but.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Previews available in: English
Subjects
American Novelists, Social life and customs, Copy writers, Advertising agencies, Alcohol use, Biography, Alcoholics, Rehabilitation, Burroughs, Augusten, Burroughs, augusten, 1965-, Authors, biography, New york (n.y.), social life and customs, collection:randy_shilts_award=finalistPeople
Augusten BurroughsTimes
20th centuryShowing 5 featured editions. View all 18 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3 |
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
4 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
5
Dry: a memoir
2003, St. Martins's Press, St. Martin's Press
in English
- 1st ed.
0312272057 9780312272050
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created April 30, 2008
- 6 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
November 7, 2021 | Edited by Jenner | Merge works |
January 9, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
April 5, 2014 | Edited by ImportBot | Added IA ID. |
August 10, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |