Orangutan by Colin Broderick

Bird's-Eye View of The Descent of Man
My review on Amazon

Colin Broderick starts his memoir with a warning. "This is not a pleasant story," he says. "In fact, it's downright ugly in places. But it's my story and I'm not going to apologize for it." Well, he's right. It is ugly and indulgent, but a fascinating and well-written ugly and indulgent story.

The fact that Colin is still alive is beyond me. He actually touches upon that in the book: "I had not died. I was alive. I had been through car accidents, I had been stabbed and hospitalized and almost drowned, and now I had fallen off a roof and I was alive ... God was telling me that I should drink." As glad as I'm that he's still alive and well, I think the fact that a lot of drunkards, like him, pull through unscathed dampens the cautionary tale their collective experience is supposed to convey: alcohol kills.

There are some genius moments in the book, like the sage advice Colin gives aspiring writers. "To write you must rewrite. You must be willing to sacrifice your darlings. Rip it apart, throw some of it out--throw it all out if you have to--and rewrite." and his ballsy move to hand Colum McCann--author of Let The Great World Spin--the manuscript of his first novel. He definitely has what it takes to get a book like this into my and your hands.

Colin's story sheds light on alcoholism and Irishmen, which is evidently endemic. Colin admits that "the possibility of not drinking at all was out of the question. My fellow country men would never forgive me." It's pretty hard to quite drinking when everyone around you--your friends, your family and your community--are big drinkers.

Aside from his alcohol and cocaine addictions, Colin actually reminded me a lot of myself, which made his story that much more devastating. He's a bibliophile and a writer and a sensitive SOB. He's a great guy if you're lucky enough to catch him sober.

This was a fast read and written really well. I wonder, however, if Colin has another great book in him or if this is it. Whatever you think of Colin the person, the addict or the flake, you gotta hand it to him as a great writer.

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