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Dry: A Memoir
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312272050
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0312272057
Label: St. Martin's Press
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: June 02, 2003
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Studio: St. Martin's Press
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Editorial Review:
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. --John Moe
From the New York Times Bestselling author of Running With Scissors comes the story of one man trying to out-drink his memories, outlast his demons, and outrun his past. “I was addicted to “Bewitched” as a kid. I worshipped Darren Stevens the First. When he’d come home from work and Samantha would say, ‘Darren, would you like me to fix you a drink?’ He’d always rest his briefcase on the table below the mirror in the foyer, wipe his forehead with a monogrammed handkerchief and say, ‘Better make it a double.’” (from Chapter Two)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 twentysomething guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. Ordinary. But when the ordinary person had two 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 lands in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey Jr. are immediately dashed by 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 true. Dry is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a Higher Power.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Sharp, candid, and surprisingly poignant...
The fact that I finished this book in one day *probably* indicates that I enjoyed it. Indeed, the only novels that I recall where I truly laughed my head off were from chick-lits, trivial as that may sound. But, really, Burroughs has managed to be disarmingly droll while being frightfully honest and self-deprecating. I can't attest if that's from being gay, the result of coming from a dysfunctional family, or perhaps from working in advertising (in New York, no less).
What made this ... Read More
Rating: - Simultaneously hilarious and poignant
This was a great book. Augusten Burroughs has such a great narrative style and you immediately feel like you know him, as if you're friends. I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days (would have in one if I didn't have to stop for meals and work!). Highly recommended!
Rating: - the book that made me a Reader again.
Quirky isn't exactly the right word for this book. Insightful maybe. Heartbreakingly honest. Gut bustingly funny.
I cried, laughed, sighed and nodded my head in recognition and/or agreement...sometimes all within the same page. Sometimes in the same sentence. He's a gifted writer and after three reads, and almost 7 years, this book remains at the top of my favorites list. (Plus, I think its way better than Running With Scissors.)
Rating: - Super Read
This book is one of those that you won't put down until it is finished. He writes with wit, clarity and honesty.
Rating: - Amazing Book
Dry was one of the most amazing books I have read. I really enjoyed Running with Scissors but this was a much more powerful book -- and astonishingly Dry kept its humor more consistently than Running with Scissors despite such heavy materials.
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