Just noticed the Amazon pre-order page for "90 Days: A Memoir of Recovery," the sequel to literary agent Bill Clegg's 2010 crack diary, "Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man." Reading about addicts tends to annoy me -- I inherited my mother's lack of tolerance for anything -- but I mysteriously got the urge to read this one after seeing a profile of the author when I was traveling in Tulsa last year, but had no luck locating a copy. (When I would inquire about it, the clerks in all the bookstores looked at me like I was ... David Carr.) Anyone read it? The follow-up comes out April 10 -- it's just a pity he's not a sex addict.
12 comments:
Well you could have a copy anytime if you downloaded the Kindle edition, but you don't strike me as the ebook-reading type. Correct?
Hi Kenneth:
I read his first memoir. It was was well-written and compelling. I'm like you- normally one of these is like the other. His got me because he was such a highly-functioning, successful individual who almost threw it all away. Definitely read it. Plus, as you point out, he's pretty!
Neal
Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man is on my wish list. Supposedly his ex's film, Keep the Lights On, is a film a clef as it were.
Just out of curiosity: when a literary agent writes a book, does he hire himself?
It actually made my list of top 5 books last year though I was hesitant to read it at first...his writing is so compelling that you actually felt you were beside him on his downward spiral into the abyss of addiction! You felt everything he felt and at the same time it was like not wanting to witness a train wreck but you had to keep looking. Fascinating how he had it all and yet his addiction so overwhelmed him. I'm excited to read the sequel! FYI www.amazon.ca still has copies of the book...a definite must read!
A major drawback of 'Portrait' is that the book relies heavily upon events. This is a common weakness in many memoirs; the author believes you'll find the events interesting in and of themselves. But they aren't. What's missing is the interpretation. Good memoirs include reflection about why these things happened and how they shaped the writer's life. It adds the necessary meaning to the story.
In one chapter Mr Clegg does a ton of crack and then writes "I find three bottles of wine in the kitchen and drink them." And we, as the reader, are to believe he remembers all of this? Tell ya what, why don't you (and by "you", I mean anyone reading this) do a bunch of crack right now, then drink three bottles of wine, let a couple of years go by, then write about the experience. Right. I think you get my drift here.
If you read the free chapter that is offered on Amazon, then you don't need to read anymore. Trust me on this one. Yawn.
Additionally, it is the opinion of many that if this man had not been a literary agent at a major agency then he never would have sold this book to a publisher. And the book did poorly in sales, so why/how is it that he got a 2nd publishing deal? It all begs the question, Who's the author sleeping with?
I read it, too...
It was reasonably well-done, but my thought was, "Would this be getting so much attention if he was just an average Joe and not a movie star handsome dude with a cool job?
p.s.
and FYI, he is (or at least was) a sex addict.
@Mistress, you seem intelligent but you're using "it begs the question" incorrectly. What you're looking for is "it asks the question."
I read the first one and enjoyed it. Be more than happy to send it to you. I like sharing books. WJCinNJ@verizon.net if interested.
@Greg, You are so right. Thank you.
~mistress
Are we certain we know which 'crack' they are referring to?
A far more interesting story would be if the ex-boyfriend who he screwed over were to write a book. Now that would be juicy.
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