Dry

Last fall I was introduced to author Augusten Burroughs when a friend of mine loaned me his copy of Running with Scissors. It was one of the most humorous, bizarre, and oddly captivating books I have read in a long time--one of those books where you wouldn't believe it was non-fiction except for the fact that nobody could be creative enough to make that stuff up.

Then, as I was finishing up Running with Scissors, another friend gave me Burroughs' book Dry as a gift, and I completed reading that book last night. It is basically the author's account of his struggle with alcoholism, from his employer's intervention to rehab to relapse and recovery. Although I enjoyed Scissors plenty, I have to say that Dry surpasses it in excellence at every turn. His witty, sometimes comical recounting of his experiences draws the reader into the story, and you feel his struggle along with him.

Then, as he keeps you laughing throughout the book, in the final pages, he suddenly ends the story with a conclusion that is so touching, I was moved to tears. If you have never read Running with Scissors, that is a great introduction to Burroughs, but Dry is the book that has made me a loyal reader of his. If his other books come anywhere close, I will be reading all of them.