2. Dry - Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Burroughs is chiefly known for his memoir of his insane childhood - Running With Scissors which was extremely funny and extremely bizarre. Dry is the follow up book, but was actually written before Running With Scissors. In Dry, Burroughs details the nadir of alcohol and drug addiction that he reached. First of all, there is an intervention staged by Burroughs' associates which lands him in rehab - specifically a special rehab for gay men and women. After rehab, Burroughs must attempt to deal with a new sober lifestyle. He finds a boyfriend in group therapy sessions but his sobriety is compromised by the illness and death of his ex-boyfriend, current friend - referred to as Pighead. Pighead dies of AIDs and unable to accept this loss, Burroughs goes back to his drunken old ways. He also uses crack and coke. Will he be able to break these habits and return to sobriety? A memoir that you will probably gobble up in the space of a day, Burroughs' prose is as addictive as all of the booze he sinks. Burroughs is refreshingly frank and honest, witty and self deprecating narrator. His writing expresses his complete candour about addiction and the prose is laced with humour which will make the reader laugh out loud. It is also a terribly sad book chronicling Pighead's illness and death which quite naturally unhinges Burroughs. The book says it is a memoir but the situations Burroughs gets into are so bizarre, one wonders whether creative license has been taken. If the book is factual, Burroughs has had a hell of a life. If it is fake, we can still applaud his fevered imagination! A bittersweet book about addiction, love and loss, Dry is well worth your time if you are into addiction memoirs.