Dry

Let me start off by saying I love anything written by Augusten Burroughs. What do I love even more? Anything read by Augusten Burroughs. The first book of his I read was Running with Scissors. I know some people were a bit disturbed by some of the things that he wrote about, but I wasn't. I admired him for sharing stories about his childhood and past.


One day, I found Magical Thinking on audiobook at a local bookstore. I snatched it up and immediately began listening to it. After that, I decided I only wanted to listen to his books. Well, only if he's reading them.

I have a membership to Simply Audiobooks and requested Dry from them. It fit for a challenge in my Fall Book Challenge and was on my TBR list.

Here's a bit about Dry (Goodreads):

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 twenty-something guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. Ordinary. But when the ordinary person had to 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 landed in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey, Jr., are immediately dashed by the 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 real. Dry is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a higher power.


I really enjoyed this book. Burroughs revealed a lot about himself. He shared his journey through rehab and recovery. He shared his disastrous relationships. He shared his losses. His story is definitely informative and enlightening for those of us who have not experienced an addiction. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Burroughs was in rehab and had to write out how much he typically drank. This seemed to be an "aha" moment for him. I found myself in awe that a person could drink that much and still function to some degree.

This is definitely a book that everyone should read. I might buy it in print format just to have and possibly read again.