0 Dry

After reading Augusten Burrough's Running with Scissors, I was enamored not only by his bizarre childhood, but also his style of writing - an addicting mix of sardonic humour, parody and brutal honesty. Thus, In what almost amounts to voyeurism, I was highly eager to read Dry, where he picks up the story as a high-paying advertising executive in New York, this time struggling with alcohol addiction.

It's about:

In spite of his dysfunctional childhood, Augusten had become a successful gay ad writer, fuelled by daily inundations of Dewar whiskey. His addiction was so bad that he resorted to spraying perfrume on his tongue in a (futile) attempt to mask alcohol breath. Alas, his colleagues had enough of his drunkenness and packed him off to a 30-day rehab. The rest of the memoir details his battle with returning to sobriety and staying sober, which includes group therapy and attending AA meetings. Initially he made a stellar performance in alcohol abstinence but as he fell for a crack addict and his long time partner and stronghold slowly succumbed to AIDS, the draw of alcohol proved again too difficult to decline.

My thoughts:

I actually completed this book last week so the details are not very fresh. Nonetheless, I shall try to share whatever I can remember. Having gone to rehab and group therapy sessions before (though of a different kind), I can easily sympathize with Burroughs. For example, his cynicism about AA meetings mirrors the way I feel about psychiatrist/counsellor appointments. A ritual that must be done according to prescriptions, but essentially pointless and a waste of money. It is also a poignant reminder how easy it is to relapse; one must be on guard all the time. As a reader of his struggle with alcoholism, I see the selfishness of addiction, the loneliness of recovery and the personal strength recovery entails. These are paths I have trugded through before, and perhaps still making my way through. It is no mean feat, and that's why aI all the more admire Burroughs ability to pull through the dark times and look back at it with such wit and humour.

My favorite quote:

Think of your head as an unsafe neighbourhood; don't go there alone.