Dry
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'Laughter on the road to sobriety for aficionados of outrageous black comedy' New York Times; 'Burroughs is a brilliant writer - wickedly funny, painfully honest, and uber-cool, I haven't read anything this sharp, hip or honest in my life.' Elle (US)"
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
'Reading Burroughs is like stopping to gawp at a road accident, only to discover that the Keystone cops are manning the ambulance... [His] bitchy prose is never preachy... Utterly believable and affecting.' Alice Fisher, Time Out 'The horrors of his past are extreme, yet he describes them with such throwaway hilarity that they could be trips to the circus.' Gaby Wood, Observer
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Augusten Burroughs' last book (RUNNING WITH SCISSORS) chronicled his bizarre childhood, including his dysfunctional family, the even more dysfunctional family he lived with when his mother had a series of nervous breakdowns, and his relationship with a pedophile. DRY: A MEMOIR picks up about 10 years later; Burroughs has a successful career in New York advertising and is a raging alcoholic. He's in deep denial about his problem, so he's surprised when his co-workers stage an intervention and even more surprised when he reluctantly agrees to a 30-day rehab stint. The book follows his attempts to remain sober, deal with his past, and cope with some harmful romantic relationships.
The book often skewers the mental health system, replete with therapy-speak, AA meetings, and self-help lingo, However, Burroughs adopts a fairly benign, almost affectionate, tone toward mental health workers. Ultimately, DRY is filled with the kind of wit and attitude you've come to expect from Burroughs. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and I felt some real suspense reading to see whether he'd relapse.
Burroughs is quickly establishing himself as a quirky and talented writer. Although he may be pegged by some as a "gay author," his work is pretty universal and likely to appeal to many different audiences. I most highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more of his work.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read Burroughs 'Running with scissors' in the space of a day, and laughed/gasped all the way through it. Absolutely fantastic story, written beautifully by an extremely talented author. The sequel 'dry' did not disapoint, throwing the reader into Burroughs messy adult life, with more nihilistic, dark, dry humour interspersed with some sad/poignant sections. I recommend ANYONE read these books.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am a little disappointed. I thought it was good, but not great. He writes well and evenly, no excessive melodrama or anything about what is a painful topic, but it just didn't really 'do it' for me. Having experienced the highs and lows of alcohol abuse, the bits at the end about withdrawal were recognisable to me, but there was no real sense of how it felt to BE him most of the time. I didn't identify that much and the title 'Dry' could have described the matter-of-fact way the book has been written.
Burroughs will tell you about surface feelings more than the deep-running stuff and he comes across as quite emotionless throughout lots of it. For example he'll say he hates someone but you don't get a vivid sense of how bad that feels or what it feels like. It's just emptyish words.
I know I have read a really good book when I catch myself frowning or biting my nails or something without even realising I am doing it. I guess this just didn't touch me that much. I was left somewhat cold by it. And although it was humourous, I would not give it the plaudits that some have on that front.
An alcoholic semi-autobiography which I found to be much more successful was Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. Man, I knew what was going on for him! - I felt it and understood it all. So much so, I had to stop reading it and give it a break from time to time because it was so familiar and painful yet enticing - as the paradoxical alcoholic existance often is - that it made me want to both drink and cry at the same time.
That was the sort of book I wish this was, but sadly it wasn't.
Burroughs will tell you about surface feelings more than the deep-running stuff and he comes across as quite emotionless throughout lots of it. For example he'll say he hates someone but you don't get a vivid sense of how bad that feels or what it feels like. It's just emptyish words.
I know I have read a really good book when I catch myself frowning or biting my nails or something without even realising I am doing it. I guess this just didn't touch me that much. I was left somewhat cold by it. And although it was humourous, I would not give it the plaudits that some have on that front.
An alcoholic semi-autobiography which I found to be much more successful was Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. Man, I knew what was going on for him! - I felt it and understood it all. So much so, I had to stop reading it and give it a break from time to time because it was so familiar and painful yet enticing - as the paradoxical alcoholic existance often is - that it made me want to both drink and cry at the same time.
That was the sort of book I wish this was, but sadly it wasn't.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sharp as a morning martini
Having just finished Caroline Knapp's Drinking: A Love Story, reading this is like going from a gentle group hug to a high-speed cab ride through Manhattan. Read more
Published 5 months ago by minimabel
Great memoir
After Running With Scissors, his memoir of his childhood, I didn't think Augusten Burroughs could offer anything more enjoyable. As it turns out, though, Dry is even better. Read more
Published 15 months ago by rhysthomashello
DRY
Brilliant book. Personal, wry, humour, compelling telling style and great descriptions of situations in ways that makes you feel like you have lived it even if you haven't. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jan the reader
Excellent!
I absolutely loved this book and literally could not put it down, read it in 3 days!
Not only does the author tell a great story about rehab and recovery he does so with... Read more
Not only does the author tell a great story about rehab and recovery he does so with... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Suzanne Peebles
More Black then Dry
After the deliciously black humor of "Running with Scissors" is not replicated in "Dry." It was a dark book, rather self indulgent and short on laughs. Read more
Published on 28 April 2010 by Mr. N. E. Brewer
Not exactly running on empty
Many will not find Burroughs to be funny. I, however, do. But I also find him disturbing on many levels. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2009 by William the Almost Great
Burroughs normally 'Dry' humour doesn't appear in this novel...
...But don't let you put this off. Dry is a detailed memoir of Burroughs struggle with Alcoholism and how it affects everyone around him. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2008 by Ms. K. Russell
I laughed out loud a lot
I loved this book. I have read most of Augusten Burrows's books and this was by far my favourite, he is laugh out loud naughty and is well able to describe the journey through... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2008 by A. Martin
dry, unlike my eyes!!
I highly recommend that everyone buy this book, especially those who have read running with scissors (an amazing account of his developmental years). Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2008 by Mr. M. A. Buckley
Superb
One of the best books I've read in a long time: I couldn't put it down. Some laugh out loud parts coupled with some real tear jerking moments. Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2008 by M. T. Peakin
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
