The Adderall Diaries - Stephen Elliot - B

Let's start with a couple of apt movie quotes that came to my mind in reading this book.  A virtual diet coke to the first person who, without the aid of google or any other search engine, movie database, etc., identifies both movies.

Quote No. 1:

Can l speak frankly? No holds barred?
Please.
That is one messed-up little dude.


Quote No. 2:   There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us.

The Adderall Diaries:  A Memoir of Moods, Masochism and Murder by Stephen Elliott is unlike any book I've read before.  Part true crime non-fiction, part memoir.  Mr. Elliott includes vignettes from his life history as he tells a story of his attempt to break through his writer's block by writing a book about the trial of a man accused of killing his estranged wife.

I was not familiar with Mr. Elliott before I stumbled upon his book at The Book Loft in Columbus (again, well worth a trip) (Though I did borrow this book from the library.  Again, sorry Mr. Elliott and Mr. Publisher) (On another side note, you will notice from this and posts in the recent past that I conquered my inability to insert hyperlinks into the posts!  Of course, I should re-name this blog the "If a man blogs in the forest, and there's no one around to hear him. . . Blog").  Ironically, Dave Eggers, author of Zeitoun (as previously discussed on this blog) edited one of Mr. Elliott's earlier books, Happy Baby.

As the two movie quotes at the top of this post indicate, Mr. Elliott is not quite right.  He had a troubled childhood, and his sexual proclivities and drug use are discussed, almost in stream of consciousness form.

The book is difficult to read for a couple of reasons.  First, while the events relating to the crime and trial are related chronologically, the autobiographical background woven into the book is not.  Mr. Elliott has spent a great part of his life as a bit of a vagabond, meeting and having relationships with many people.  It's difficult to keep people straight--particularly as Mr. Elliott jumps between time periods and locations.

Second, many will find the less savory aspects of Mr. Elliott's life shocking and perhaps even revolting.  There have been a number of books about damaged people, most notably the (outed as fiction) book A Million Little Pieces by Stephen Frey and another book Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction.  I have not read either, by the way, but the latter is on my list.  I cannot tell you where this particular book "ranks" with some of the others, but I'm sure that the level of detail is similar.

I do recommend this book, but not for all readers.  It does read like a novel--a disjointed novel, but a novel nonetheless.  So if you are primarily a fiction reader, you may still find The Adderall Diaries a good read.

RIF - Reading is Fundamental (remember your Saturday morning commercials??)