Reviews for Orangutan: A Memoir

The average rating for Orangutan: A Memoir based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-25 00:00:00 Troy Adams Few books have left me as speechless as Colin Broderick's "Orangutan." In the rich (and well-represented) "junkie memoir" genre, whose staple is, in part, to shock the reader over the writer's compulsion and self-destruction, it's hard to render me so floored, so impressed, at both power of prose and will of spirit to overcome. This guy is the real deal. Among the top few I've ever read (and I feel like I've read them all). Broderick excels at balancing the hope against the hopeless, the beauty and want to love against the desire to die. But here's the best part: he doesn't apologize. Not that he's romancing or proud of much of the behavior, but he recognizes that doing so after the fact is somewhat pointless. And the good part still shine no matter how rotten, if you can find where to look. Here it's the city at sunrise, the snippets of poetry to keep him holding on, the documentary that shares the secret story. There are forces far more powerful than the self at play. In the recovery genre, you can get a lot of apologists. And for good reason. It's a selfish, harmful lifestyle. Still, these sort of addictions coincide with the traditional bildungsroman; these books are about growing up. And few complete that process without stumbling. I am sure there are plenty of folks who go to school, pick the career, get married and live happily. But they don't write books. At least not the kind people want to read. What compels are those trips to hell's end, those real crises of character; and when a writer as skillful as Broderick brings you along for the journey, it is enthralling.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-01 00:00:00 Scott Warren After reading this gritty substance abuse memoir, it's evident that alcoholism is endemic to the Irish! I really enjoyed this story and although at times I was enraged at Colin's behavior , at how he messed up his, and other people's lives, more often than not I found myself really rooting for him to make sobriety stick. He makes no apologies for his addiction and it clearly wasn't written for atonement but he was, and is, a like-able guy, notably sensitive and kind when sober. It's hard not to want someone who loves books, the written word and who dreams of becoming a writer, to succeed. An entertaining and at times really funny memoir that looks into the mind of an addict.