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All These Things: Something of a Memoir
Life as the most available loser is something Sam Reed is no stranger to. As he tries to come to terms with himself and the world around him, he faces tough decisions about life, religion, depression, and constant struggles with his ADHD and his sexuality. Can Sam pull himself out of the rain and see the best life has to offer? Or will he fall victim to the pressures that surround him and his friends? Haunting, sexy, and mesmerizingly written, "All These Things" is sure to captivate you.10% of the publisher’s proceeds from All These Things is donated to the It Gets Better Project!
222 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 5, 2014
EXORCIZING THE DEMONS; FINDING A WAY OUT OF THE RAIN
Sam, where were you when I needed a kindred spirit like myself to travel the damaged and broken parts of my soul?
This is my biography, too. A change here and there; an earlier time, forty years; but it's mine as well as it is Sam's. No Ritalin for me. No drugs to help a disorder that didn't exist. Just a psychiatrist, twice a week, who could never, not ever, know my secrets.
Tyler Reedus performs an exorcism of sorts. Through Sam, he allows us to see what it is like to have ADHD at a time when there was a supposed quick and easy cure. And the side effects of that magic pill? Easy fix. Another pill. And then another, for each side effect. Been there. Done that. And Sam is unable to verbalize what is happening to his mental state because the doctor always knows best. Sam's ADHD is his worst enemy, his most horrifying nightmare, come true.
We are given that rare opportunity to actually feel, to know, what is happening inside Sam. His story is told eloquently, believably and honestly by the person who knows Sam best. We see first-hand, the middle and high school horrors that Sam faces. And we see his attempt to embrace faith in the church as a means of coping.
Alas, again, he is left with empty and all encompassing failure.
Sam must find his own way, and once he begins to understand that the little round pills are not helping, or worse, making his nightmare of a life much more so, he makes a conscious decision to stop taking them. And thus more consequences are heaped on his shoulders.
Ultimately, Sam himself must find his own way back. And this journey is the most difficult, and the most costly in that he loses his greatest gift; that of childhood, of chances missed, and of what might have been.
This is a tour de force in literature, with the writer baring his bruised and damaged soul as a way to leave his demons behind. Eloquent and heartbreaking, it leaves the reader with hope that Sam has taken his only chance for survival. Maybe that's the best hope we have.
As John Greenleaf Whittier said:
"For of all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, "It might have been."
Sam, where were you when I needed a kindred spirit like myself to travel the damaged and broken parts of my soul?
This is my biography, too. A change here and there; an earlier time, forty years; but it's mine as well as it is Sam's. No Ritalin for me. No drugs to help a disorder that didn't exist. Just a psychiatrist, twice a week, who could never, not ever, know my secrets.
Tyler Reedus performs an exorcism of sorts. Through Sam, he allows us to see what it is like to have ADHD at a time when there was a supposed quick and easy cure. And the side effects of that magic pill? Easy fix. Another pill. And then another, for each side effect. Been there. Done that. And Sam is unable to verbalize what is happening to his mental state because the doctor always knows best. Sam's ADHD is his worst enemy, his most horrifying nightmare, come true.
We are given that rare opportunity to actually feel, to know, what is happening inside Sam. His story is told eloquently, believably and honestly by the person who knows Sam best. We see first-hand, the middle and high school horrors that Sam faces. And we see his attempt to embrace faith in the church as a means of coping.
Alas, again, he is left with empty and all encompassing failure.
Sam must find his own way, and once he begins to understand that the little round pills are not helping, or worse, making his nightmare of a life much more so, he makes a conscious decision to stop taking them. And thus more consequences are heaped on his shoulders.
Ultimately, Sam himself must find his own way back. And this journey is the most difficult, and the most costly in that he loses his greatest gift; that of childhood, of chances missed, and of what might have been.
This is a tour de force in literature, with the writer baring his bruised and damaged soul as a way to leave his demons behind. Eloquent and heartbreaking, it leaves the reader with hope that Sam has taken his only chance for survival. Maybe that's the best hope we have.
As John Greenleaf Whittier said:
"For of all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, "It might have been."
March 29, 2012
I marked it as ya-fiction, but it's more for the older teens.
It's a great story set in Lynville, WA. It's the story of a young man finding himself and what he went through to find himself.
Now, because this is "something of a memoir," I know this town to actually be Lynden (since I grew up in it myself) and I have met the author before (we both frequent the county bus system.) When knowing where and when and to whom a story takes place, it makes the whole thing easier to fall in to. I knew those cold metal doors of the middle school and the confusing halls of the high school. I understood (somewhat) the transition of young loneliness to somewhat satisfaction.
This story is real and raw. I really appreciated the way this story didn't skip anything important. Friendship, sexuality, school, religion, drinking, drugs. I think these are all things most 17-20 year olds really discover. They find what is right for them and how it's wrong for the world.
I know I'm still in the middle of that age of discovery (being only 19) and to see another story and where he was at 19 compared to the end when he was older, I felt hope.
I'm currently past my darkest hours of my younger days. I spent most of my middle school days being part of the emo kids group. I spent a lot of high school feeling like there was nothing. Around my senior year, I got to see that there is so much to life and now I feel like nothing can hold me down.
This book was amazing and beyond relatable. It helped me feel less lonely and stronger. It was way worth my time.
It's a great story set in Lynville, WA. It's the story of a young man finding himself and what he went through to find himself.
Now, because this is "something of a memoir," I know this town to actually be Lynden (since I grew up in it myself) and I have met the author before (we both frequent the county bus system.) When knowing where and when and to whom a story takes place, it makes the whole thing easier to fall in to. I knew those cold metal doors of the middle school and the confusing halls of the high school. I understood (somewhat) the transition of young loneliness to somewhat satisfaction.
This story is real and raw. I really appreciated the way this story didn't skip anything important. Friendship, sexuality, school, religion, drinking, drugs. I think these are all things most 17-20 year olds really discover. They find what is right for them and how it's wrong for the world.
I know I'm still in the middle of that age of discovery (being only 19) and to see another story and where he was at 19 compared to the end when he was older, I felt hope.
I'm currently past my darkest hours of my younger days. I spent most of my middle school days being part of the emo kids group. I spent a lot of high school feeling like there was nothing. Around my senior year, I got to see that there is so much to life and now I feel like nothing can hold me down.
This book was amazing and beyond relatable. It helped me feel less lonely and stronger. It was way worth my time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews