Not My Father's Son

Author: Alan Cumming
Audio: 6 hours and 28 minutes
Pages: 304


Cover blurb:
Dark, painful memories can be like a cage. Or, in the case of Alan Cumming, they can be packed away in a box, stuck in the attic to be forgotten. Until one day the box explodes and all the memories flood back in horrible detail. Alan Cumming grew up in the grip of a man who held his family hostage, someone who meted out violence with a frightening ease, who waged a silent war with himself that sometimes spilled over onto everyone around him. That man was Alex Cumming, Alan's father.


My take:
I have always admired Alan Cumming, he is not afraid to try roles and put himself "out there". Always entertaining and funny.
I experienced this book through audio, Alan narrates it himself. His voice is lovely to listen to and he puts emotion into the reading. I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it.

Dry

Title: Dry
Author: Augusten Burroughs
Pages: 293 pages
Audio: 12 hours 30 min



Inside cover blurb: From the bestselling author of Running with Scissors comes Dry the hilarious, moving, and no less bizarre account of what happened next.

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 two 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.


My take: I really like Augusten Burroughs, I think there is only one book of his that I wasn't too keen on. He is funny and honest. This book is no different from his other works. Read this book, read his other books as well.