Dry: a Memoir Augusten Essay

Dry: A Memoir

Augusten

“Like cubic zirconia, I only look real. I’m an imposter. The fact is, I’m not like other people. I’m like other alcoholics.”(Burroughs, 188). The follow up to Augusten Burroughs first memoir, Running with Scissors, Dry: A Memoir presents Augusten as a young adult after he has moved on from his dysfunctional family. The book is an account of his life as a young and successful advertising executive in New York City facing termination as a result of his alcoholism. Agreeing to a 30 day rehabilitation program, Augusten takes the reader through his initial confrontations with his disease all the way to the aftermath he faces, both within himself and also those that surround him, once he has returned home. What struck me as most surprising in this memoir is Burroughs’ ability to recount the dark and often unimaginable circumstances with humor and sincere truthfulness.

This is not a story of pity or a guide to sobriety, but rather an honest, insightful view into the mind and world of an alcoholic. Surviving a traumatic childhood, living as a gay man, and attempting to meet the standards of a highly demanding career, Burroughs finds himself at the bar more often than not. Unlike many other reports and narratives from other alcoholics, Burroughs is fully aware that his relationship with alcohol is abnormal from the get go. He does not, however, see it as a problem for anyone other than himself. Although they know very little about each other besides their love for alcohol, Burroughs spends a great deal of time with his mortician friend while avoiding his closest friend, Pighead, who is HIV positive. After continuously letting down his advertising partner, Greer, as well as the rest of the company, Augusten is asked to enter rehab or face termination.

His expectations of what benefits rehab would provide, though distorted, always remained relatively positive. “I guess I thought that rehab would stop me from drinking like an...