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The Night of the Gun: A reporter investigates the darkest story of his life. His own. by David Carr
ilovehummus6's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
3.5
There’s something maybe not charming, but endearing, about Carr’s unwillingness to be apologetic. He admits the part of him that misses the lifestyle he once had, the part of him that would rather not believe the things he’s forcibly rewritten in memory. I liked a lot about this memoir, I just wish the plot had felt more tightly constructed & purposeful. It felt a lot like self-indulgent nostalgia at some points (but even then, enjoyable. Entertaining.) And I’m totally obsessed with the concept of the book, which biases my rating.
jenmooremo's review against another edition
4.0
Great read--I felt like I was having a long conversation with David Carr over well, I guess would be drinks, then coke, then crack, then most likely a bottle of water by the end of the book. Honest appraisal and examination of his life thus far and realization that memory isn't always what we know as facts that happened. Definitely a memoir that neither talks down to you nor tries to hide what is really the good, the bad and the ugly in his life. A talented guy who screwed up his life on more than one occasion and readily admits that he not only got lucky but is always an addict.
caryart's review against another edition
2.0
Yikes this guy loves himself.
The premise here is that David Carr "reports" on the "darkest" parts of his life: times when he was in the throes of addiction to cocaine / crack / alcohol. But there's something about the narrative that just rubs me the wrong way that I can't quite put my finger on. It's like everyone just forgives him because he's just so damn smart and fun. My feeling throughout the book was "Yeah, okay, I get it. You're amazing. But how did the other people feel?"
The premise here is that David Carr "reports" on the "darkest" parts of his life: times when he was in the throes of addiction to cocaine / crack / alcohol. But there's something about the narrative that just rubs me the wrong way that I can't quite put my finger on. It's like everyone just forgives him because he's just so damn smart and fun. My feeling throughout the book was "Yeah, okay, I get it. You're amazing. But how did the other people feel?"
cseibs's review against another edition
2.0
Is it wrong that I liked the dope fiend-Carr better than the recovery-Carr? It's not that I think the coke head life was all fun and games, but rather that Carr had so much more insight and critical perspective into his heydays than he did into his life in recovery. Carr seemed to give himself permission to treat the drunk coked out addict of his youth with no pretension, but then bought into the recovery fairytale and started pulling punches in recounting his later life. He goes into painful detail about abusing women when he was high, but glosses over his frequenting of prostitutes and outright sexual harassment of subordinates when sober. He vividly depicts the horrors he put his babies through before he went into treatment but then pretty much just says everything was peachy and their childhood was a delight when sober. I missed his honesty and insight, and ended up pretty suspicious of this whole project when, by the end, it was clear that this wasn't self-journalism after all but a story he has told himself.
michaeljkaplan's review against another edition
3.0
What a book.
Memoirs are a shat upon form these days. Everyone has written them, and only the ones that are faked get any real attention. The Night of the Gun is a stellar piece of work. It is tragic and terrifying. It is about addiction, recovery, and, of all things, memory.
I highly recommend it!
Memoirs are a shat upon form these days. Everyone has written them, and only the ones that are faked get any real attention. The Night of the Gun is a stellar piece of work. It is tragic and terrifying. It is about addiction, recovery, and, of all things, memory.
I highly recommend it!
parikem's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
A good counterpoint to Dry by Augusten Burroughs or even A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. A drug addiction memoir based on not only the author's memories, but also including his process of doing basic factchecking on his memories and interviewing people who knew him at the time he was addicted to cocaine.
spinstah's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting memoir. The author uses his investigative reporting skills to uncover the truth about his drug and alcohol addiction and how he overcame it.
audaciaray's review against another edition
5.0
Fuck, I loved this book.
On all layers, this was a memoir that I could really sink my teeth into (/read voraciously until done). Here's what's awesome about this book (in the precise ways that I like my memoirs, anyway):
1. Carr doesn't paint a rosy picture of himself. He was a scary coke fiend, abusive towards his girlfriends, and a royal fuckup. He doesn't pretend otherwise, he stares himself right down.
2. It consciously explores memory as a problematic thing and a living thing. And Carr has probably listened to the same Radiolab episode I have about memory.
3. It is built up on artifacts, many of which (letters, newspaper columns, arrest records) are reproduced in the book. Fun with narrative textures!
4. The writing is sharp, brutal, aware, and playful all at once.
On all layers, this was a memoir that I could really sink my teeth into (/read voraciously until done). Here's what's awesome about this book (in the precise ways that I like my memoirs, anyway):
1. Carr doesn't paint a rosy picture of himself. He was a scary coke fiend, abusive towards his girlfriends, and a royal fuckup. He doesn't pretend otherwise, he stares himself right down.
2. It consciously explores memory as a problematic thing and a living thing. And Carr has probably listened to the same Radiolab episode I have about memory.
3. It is built up on artifacts, many of which (letters, newspaper columns, arrest records) are reproduced in the book. Fun with narrative textures!
4. The writing is sharp, brutal, aware, and playful all at once.