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nono_mv's review against another edition
4.0
Read this during the first lockdown and it's really heavy shit. The way the author talks about cycle of addiction... It's real and brutal... It's fucking devastating
some_okie_dude27's review against another edition
5.0
(EDITED REVIEW)
I've always been bizarrely fascinated in the mythos of the junkie. I have an odd love of addicts, alcoholics, abusers, I guess that's why I keep coming back to such authors as Burroughs, Bukowski, Welsh, or Thompson. They bring a sense of danger that brings you out of the mundanity of life, but also a sense of vulnerability that you have to peel back in order to see. But then there's such authors, like Philip K. Dick or the author of this book, Bill Clegg, who seek to break the myth. But not because they're the concerned parents, but rather because they've lived it and they know the truth.
I discovered this book when I was a wee lad in the 7th grade, I realize now that I probably was not supposed to be reading this at such a young age, but I was already reading more mature stuff like The Walking Dead, Watchmen, Catcher In The Rye, 1984, Brave New World, Batman: The Killing Joke, etc. So I was genuinely intrigued to see what this book was about, and boy was I surprised to read about very raw and explicit descriptions of gay sex, taking drugs, and the lengths and lows that this man would go through in order to get his next hit. I was quite impressed with the way that Clegg pulled you into the scene and forced you into living in the moment alongside himself. It added a touch of humanity that I've rarely seen in a book before or since. As I read this book again, I've found that it's not aged at all since I last read it.
Like with Dick's A Scanner Darkly, Clegg abandons any sense of sentimentality that's found in other junkie books like with Burroughs, or any reveling in the insanity like Thompson or Welsh, or even the empathy of Dick. Clegg takes the cynical, Bukowski edge where he exposes himself to the reader, and it's every bit as distasteful, uncomfortable, and raw as you'd imagine. He also steals from Dick in showing the mundanity of addiction as well as how he completely hits rock bottom as he throws his life, partner, job, and practically everything else in order to support his crack addiction. But it also explores how he got into drinking and drugs when he was used and manipulated by an older man, who got him into substances and would later cause his descent into addiction and nigh madness.
Clegg's writing is lyrical, but also raw, like I mentioned earlier. He purposely avoids the 'AA' type of story where he found redemption and everything's been fine since, but he painfully and rawly illustrates the lasting emotional scars that he left on himself and the people he cared about. Portrait is not a happy story, yet it is full of hope that he'll get better and continue to, giving himself one day at a time I guess I should mention how I admire raw honesty in a work, no matter if it's fictional or nonfictional. Clegg's writing is sublimely beautiful, in a brutal, heart wrenching, and downright uncomfortable sort of way. A scene that always sticks with me is when Bill is having sex with a male prostitute and his boyfriend is sitting right next to him, holding his hand in tears as Bill does the act, or the escapades that Bill goes on in order to get more drugs as well as trying to avoid the consequences of using such drugs, even as the consequences are crushing down on him.
To say the least, Portrait is an addiction memoir that sticks out due to its honesty, lyricism, as well as Clegg utilizing his experiences in order to give people a haunting warning of what happens when you do drugs. It hits home so hard that it might've even shook hardened addicts like Bukowski or Burroughs. In either case, this is a book that's worth the trouble and heart ache to read.
I've always been bizarrely fascinated in the mythos of the junkie. I have an odd love of addicts, alcoholics, abusers, I guess that's why I keep coming back to such authors as Burroughs, Bukowski, Welsh, or Thompson. They bring a sense of danger that brings you out of the mundanity of life, but also a sense of vulnerability that you have to peel back in order to see. But then there's such authors, like Philip K. Dick or the author of this book, Bill Clegg, who seek to break the myth. But not because they're the concerned parents, but rather because they've lived it and they know the truth.
I discovered this book when I was a wee lad in the 7th grade, I realize now that I probably was not supposed to be reading this at such a young age, but I was already reading more mature stuff like The Walking Dead, Watchmen, Catcher In The Rye, 1984, Brave New World, Batman: The Killing Joke, etc. So I was genuinely intrigued to see what this book was about, and boy was I surprised to read about very raw and explicit descriptions of gay sex, taking drugs, and the lengths and lows that this man would go through in order to get his next hit. I was quite impressed with the way that Clegg pulled you into the scene and forced you into living in the moment alongside himself. It added a touch of humanity that I've rarely seen in a book before or since. As I read this book again, I've found that it's not aged at all since I last read it.
Like with Dick's A Scanner Darkly, Clegg abandons any sense of sentimentality that's found in other junkie books like with Burroughs, or any reveling in the insanity like Thompson or Welsh, or even the empathy of Dick. Clegg takes the cynical, Bukowski edge where he exposes himself to the reader, and it's every bit as distasteful, uncomfortable, and raw as you'd imagine. He also steals from Dick in showing the mundanity of addiction as well as how he completely hits rock bottom as he throws his life, partner, job, and practically everything else in order to support his crack addiction. But it also explores how he got into drinking and drugs when he was used and manipulated by an older man, who got him into substances and would later cause his descent into addiction and nigh madness.
Clegg's writing is lyrical, but also raw, like I mentioned earlier. He purposely avoids the 'AA' type of story where he found redemption and everything's been fine since, but he painfully and rawly illustrates the lasting emotional scars that he left on himself and the people he cared about. Portrait is not a happy story, yet it is full of hope that he'll get better and continue to, giving himself one day at a time I guess I should mention how I admire raw honesty in a work, no matter if it's fictional or nonfictional. Clegg's writing is sublimely beautiful, in a brutal, heart wrenching, and downright uncomfortable sort of way. A scene that always sticks with me is when Bill is having sex with a male prostitute and his boyfriend is sitting right next to him, holding his hand in tears as Bill does the act, or the escapades that Bill goes on in order to get more drugs as well as trying to avoid the consequences of using such drugs, even as the consequences are crushing down on him.
To say the least, Portrait is an addiction memoir that sticks out due to its honesty, lyricism, as well as Clegg utilizing his experiences in order to give people a haunting warning of what happens when you do drugs. It hits home so hard that it might've even shook hardened addicts like Bukowski or Burroughs. In either case, this is a book that's worth the trouble and heart ache to read.
roaming_rachael's review against another edition
3.0
It was good. Not a very clear ending.. maybe there will be a sequal. But overall it was a good read.
mundpund's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
georgial24's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
mountain_daisy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
5.0
No words other than wow.
isanabreu's review against another edition
5.0
Assim como Bill, viciado e não vendo a hora de consumir um pouco mais de droga, eu me vi a todo minuto querendo ler ou pensando nesse livro. Acho que vou carregar a história e as palavras do autor para sempre.
Tem bastante tempo que eu não leio nada tão emocionante e viciante, eletrizante até.
Seu relato é honesto como poucos, e apesar de real, Bill tem uma sensibilidade incrível para analisar e tentar entender suas memórias conturbadas.
Tem bastante tempo que eu não leio nada tão emocionante e viciante, eletrizante até.
Seu relato é honesto como poucos, e apesar de real, Bill tem uma sensibilidade incrível para analisar e tentar entender suas memórias conturbadas.