Certain episodes are imaginative re-creation, and those episodes are not intended to portray actual events.Ĭriticized by some for this fictional slant and applauded by others, 'Dry' sparks a debate that asks us to take a hard look at what genre the memoir really falls into.

Names have been changed, characters combined, and events compressed. There's a tiny blurb in the beginning that reads: This memoir is based on my experiences over a ten-year period. He admits his helplessness over alcohol, accepts the bizarre rituals and daily regimes of the clinic, makes some friends with some unlikely characters, and in the end, takes one step toward the rest of his (hopefully) sober life.īesides being clearly, disturbingly well written, what is also fascinating about Burroughs's book, is that some of his memories are made up. Using the image of a sweating martini as his 'picture of calm,' and bouncing through the program like a rag doll on lithium, Burroughs begins to take part in what turns out to be a very real epiphany for him.

He ends up at the Proud Institute, a gay/lesbian rehab center in deepest, darkest Minnesota, where he learns his path to sobriety will not include modern architecture and Japanese Koi ponds, but instead indestructible dorm furniture and breaded veal cutlets with a provocative sauce of Velveeta and Half and Half. I left out the fact that I didn't know how to spell or that I'd been giving blowjobs since I was thirteen. When I finally escaped, I presented myself to advertising agencies as a self-educated, slightly eccentric youth filled with passion, bursting with ideas. I then lived a life of squalor, pedophiles, no school, and free pills.

When I was thirteen, my crazy mother gave me away to her lunatic psychiatrist, who adopted me. Some people have epiphanies, and others simply have epiphany thrust upon them.īurroughs adroitly weaves back story throughout the forward action:

It's an interesting concept, the forced epiphany, and one Burroughs doesn't take too much time to ponder. Told in the first person, Burroughs takes us down a dark and harrowing path recounting his life as a strung-out, well-paid ad executive who is forced to accept treatment for his drinking problem or lose his job. Fiction in Augusten Burroughs' memoir, 'Dry'īy Heather McElhatton, Minnesota Public RadioĪugusten Burroughs's memoir, 'Dry,' is an unflinching look at one alcoholic's crooked journey towards an unsure sobriety. Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

Dry by augusten burroughs