Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

Nick Flynn's book was a book I knew about for a long time, but never seemed to have the time to read. The book is a lovely memoir about how an abandoned son struggles to come to terms with the man his father has become and how that man from a wealthy and affluent family could abandon him and his older brother. Nick Flynn is surprisingly compassionate when he shares the sad and sordid reality of his father’s failed, alcoholic life.

This is one of the most moving memoirs I’ve ever read, and it comes highly recommended. Probably the most… show more.

This whole book is a powerful exploration of alcoholism, homelessness, and the father-son relationship, but it was a single chapter that made me write “WOW” in the margins.

“Same Again” is a four-page chapter composed of nothing but short sentences that contain only euphemisms for alcohol, from “the usual” to “same again.” That sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it does. It’s poetic, gripping, and follows a narrative arc through a single evening at the bar.

Read the whole book, but don’t skip this mesmerizing chapter.  

There are many useful, informative books about mental health, but I love a beautifully written story—the kind that pulls you into the world of real people and the ways that their mental health challenges shape their lives. Such is the case with this creative, experimental memoir, which follows a son into adulthood as he witnesses his father’s addiction and homelessness while also developing his own addiction problems, bringing their warped reality to life by warping the narrative itself. With chapters written in wildly different forms and approaches, it slowly builds into a story of self-discovery and tentative acceptance. Full of… show more.