"A surge of energy pounds through every inch of him, and there is a moment of perfect oblivion where he is aware of nothing and everything. A kind of peace breaks out behind his eyes. It spreads down from his temple into his chest, to his hands and everywhere. It storms through him - kinetic, sexual, euphoric - like a magnificent hurricane raging at the speed of light. It is the warmest, most tender caress he has ever felt and then, as it recedes, the coldest hand."Honestly, I had low expectation of the book so I perused it and got what I could about it but I ended up enjoying it.
What stood out to me the most was when Bill was in a hotel and he's pretty strung and high from smoking crack. He had called an escort to come over for sex and his boyfriend of a few years shows up unexpectedly. Bill begs his boyfriend to leave but his boyfriend stays and tells Bill he's going to stay and it's going to be ok, while tears fall down his face. Despite informing his boyfriend that an escort is coming, his boyfriend stays and the escort carries out his task. As Bill is consumed and engaged with this escort, he looks over and sees his boyfriend holding his hands with teary eyes. His boyfriend restates to Bill that it's ok and Bill wishes he won't remember.
How heart wrenching is that? I can't possibly imagine how Bill's boyfriend is feeling. I can't imagine how Bill feels. It was difficult for me to fault Bill completely; which is what the memoir does beautifully - shedding light on drug addicts as still being human where they're still conscious of their behavior and what goes on around them to a degree, but they're not completely removed. Addicts still feels guilty, still feels pain but it fades quickly.
I can't possibly spoil the story but this is one book I would recommend reading. It's a pretty quick read. You could get a cup of coffee and finish it in 3 hours and give yourself an hour to process the story.
Click2Buy: Portrait Of An Addict As A Young Man, Bill Clegg $16.31 buckeroos
No comments:
Post a Comment