Penguin (Cornerstone) Early Sobrieties.

by Michael Deagler

Don’t worry about what Dennis Monk did when he was drinking. He’s sober now, ready to rejoin the world of leases and paychecks, reciprocal friendships and healthy romances—if only the world would agree to take him back. When his working-stiff parents kick him out of their suburban home, mere months into his frangible sobriety, the 26-year-old spends his first dry summer couch surfing through South Philadelphia, struggling to find a place for himself in the throng of adulthood.

Monk’s haphazard pilgrimage leads him through a city in growing, gentrifying, haunted by its history and its unrealized potential. Everyone he knew from college seems to be doing better than him—and most of them aren’t even doing that well. His run-ins with former classmates, estranged drinking buddies, and prospective lovers challenge his version of events past and present, revealing that recovery is not the happy ending he’d expected, only a fraught next chapter.

Like a sober, millennial Jesus’ Son, Michael Deagler’s debut novel is the poignant confession of a recovering addict adrift in the fragmenting landscape of America’s middle class. Shot through with humor, hubris, and hard-earned insight, Early Sobrieties charts the limbos that exist between our better and worst selves, offering a portrait of a stifled generation collectively slouching towards grace.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Addiction, Contemporary, Modern

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2024

About the author

Michael Deagler’s debut novel EARLY SOBRIETIES was published in 2024 by Astra House in the US and Hutchinson Heinemann in the UK. The book received the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award and was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.

Deagler’s short fiction has appeared in Harper’s, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a National Magazine Award and an O. Henry Award, as well as fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in creative writing and literature at the University of Southern California.

Reviews

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as fascinating as it is monotonous. It’s truly just plodding along in someone’s first year of sobriety, which I imagine can be quite boring compared to their lives before. This book for me was a slow delight and a chance to get to know a man named Dennis, a man working hard to get his life back. A refreshing change of pace after other books I’ve read recently.

[Romane · Rating 5 out of 5]

the writing in this book is phenomenal! so sharp and perfectly tuned that I was captivated from the very first pages.

we follow Dennis Monk, in his late twenties, as he embarks on a new chapter marked by recent sobriety. far from the conventional detox route, he's decided to quit alcohol on his own terms and to rediscover and reclaim his sober self. the book consists of vignettes that introduces us to the people who’ve accompanied him at various stages of his new life - lovers, family, friends. ‘Early Sobrieties’ is a humorous read, Dennis doesn't take himself too seriously and navigates by sight. he's an endearing, phlegmatic and uniquely unconventional character.

in the end, the story chronicles a clueless millennial trying to take control of his life and become captain of his ship through the tribulations of life and encounters. his story is anchored in the evolution of the city of Philadelphia and the social transformations it’s undergoing.

this book is primarily focus on Dennis Monk, but it's also the voice of an entire generation that doesn't know how to act, express or assert itself. although my interest in the theme of sobriety might influence my perspective, this is simply one of the most intelligent and brilliant works of fiction I’ve ever read. I loved it! a definite 5-star read.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is an homage of sorts to Jesus' Son, with the distinction that the narrator is newly sober. Of course he is still struggling with his addiction (in this case alcohol) in all kinds of ways, and is simultaneously trying to find places to crash after his parents kick him out of their home after six months of sobriety (he's 26 years old when the book begins). Bad decisions and bad luck ensue.

The writing is the real draw here, and while it skews overly ornate at times, the prose is always interesting and it keeps the episodic nature of the narrative from feeling repetitive. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait for more from this talented author.

[Lexi Denee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was outside my normal genres but when I read the synopsis I knew I needed to read it. As someone who spent a lot of time partying in college and is now sober but still works in bars - this one packed a punch.

I typically struggle with books that are character driven and lack plot, but Early Sobrieties follows Dennis Monk through a series of stories and living situations as he navigates being a recovering alcoholic. Monk finds himself in a bunch of crazy scenarios, and shows the reader what it’s like to have life happen to them, vs. actually living. I loved reading from his perspective - an Irish-Catholic Philadelphian with a love for the city and a mild disdain for the gentrification around him.

The writing in this book was amazing and I can’t wait to check out more from the author. While navigating such a serious topic, he still manages to find the humor in situations and I laughed out loud a couple of times. Check this one out if you have ever struggled with addiction, have family that has, or want to understand the mind of someone in recovery!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Astra House Books for the eARC of this title. Quotes below may be changed in final publication.**

Quotes:

“How can you ever change if every mistake and humiliation of your life is folklore for those who witnessed it?”

“An anecdote in the mouths of those whose fate sat on the stool next to you while you were young and brutal and gullible and scared?”

“I was sensible. I’d stuck to alcohol, a substance so wholesome they served it in church.”

[Nicole (Nerdish.Maddog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is deep, heartfelt and even a little funny. The book follows 26- year-old Dennis Monk’s itinerant first year of sobriety. He is forced to leave his parents’ house where he was staying and ends back in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. He spends his time couch surfing with friends and bouncing around between jobs, trying to find his place in the world without alcohol. The story unfolds in a realistically unpredictable way that reminds you of the complexities of being human. Each of the characters are painted in a believable manner that forces you into the mind of Monk but also makes you pause to reflect on the complicated nature of other humans. The book reminds you of what it’s like to struggle to find yourself in a world that appears to have changed from the one you were promised as a kid. It forces you to see the world from multiple sides and slows down the side of you that wants to judge things that are different. This book is a simple character driven novel that delivers an amazing story with an amazing cast of characters.

Thank you to Astra House for offering me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. It is available now, so head to your local library or independent bookstore to request a copy today.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dennis is 26, has recently started his sobriety journey, and we join him when he's living at home with his parents, who early in the book, kick him out of home.

There's some really beautiful writing in this book, and the journey Dennis is on is a very 'real' one; Dennis is desperately trying to make up for lost time, and find where he fits in the world, and slowly comes to realise that he's expecting too much of life; change demands more of him than he's given.

The story is told through Dennis' various interactions with friends and acquaintances throughout the book, and his struggles with understanding where and how he fits.

This book was well written and had some quite beautiful prose; it was kind of written a bit like a road novel, and it was very character, rather than plot-heavy. I found it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I do think people who love road novels, or coming of age stories will really enjoy this book.

Thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Michael Deagler's 'Early Sobrieties.'

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good snapshot of Philadelphia, including the famous cheesesteaks but beyond that this was mostly a sorry story of a reformed alcoholic who is couch surfing while he tries to figure out what to do with his life. (ho-hum!) The guy is of course to be congratulated for giving up alcohol and trying to start anew but the impression the reader is left with is that he's a stumblebum and feels entitled to a home-away-from-home everywhere he goes. Maybe if I were a lot younger I would be more sympathetic but I had trouble with this freeloader's lifestyle.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

despite being well written, I struggled to connect with the story. early sobrieties would not normally be up my street but I decided to try something new. I found the subject matter intriguing and that was enough for me. or at least I hoped.

this definitely has a readership. I just wasn't it.

2.5

[Adam Ferris · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I was, day to day, recalibrating myself for a new world. The process was ongoing."

Finding your place in your mid-twenties is difficult on its own, and Monk is figuring this out in his first few months of sobriety making up for lost time over the last eight years of his life. Having left a trail of failed friendships and ruined romances in his addiction, he finds himself walking through the wreckage of his past while coming to terms with his present. This leads to many troublesome scenarios that don't seem like sober acts. Fumbling with females and new and old acquaintances, Monk is at a loss in an existential sense.

"Life's kinda hard huh? Like it's good but it's hard, too. [...] We are always ourselves. I think that's the hard part."

What version of ourselves is our true selves? Deagler explores this existential angst in all of its millennial glory in Early Sobrieties. In certain times are we more ourselves than others? Is it all a process on a day to day, moment to moment basis? Maybe we are always ourselves, even in the sloppiness of the process of coming of age.

"You live your life not appreciating what it is. Then something shifts. Like if you moved a bookcase in your house and found a new window behind it that you never knew was there. You'd have a whole new view of the world."

Amongst a cast of characters living nihilistic or idealistic lives, Monk's story is a modern-day coming-of-age recovery tale with the best parts of Catcher in the Rye and Jesus' Son. Not only was this book endorsed by my favourite contemporary writer Percival Everett, Early Sobrieties sees Michael Deagler standing on his own and writing a fun, insightful and fearless debut. Exploring the spiritual, physical, and emotional aspects of Monk's life in recovery, Deagler is an exciting new talent in contemporary literature.

"Nobody works their way up anymore," said my mother, speaking into the mouth of her coffee mug. "There are executives and there are stooges. If you're not on the executive track on day one, you're a stooge. I'd say you've got one year, Owen, to get on the executive track somewhere. If you don't find something by then, you'll be obso- lete, because next year there's going to be a whole new class of college graduates even younger than you. Youth is the most sought-after commodity in corporate America and it depreciates quick.”

"What I'd done was spend eight years lowering people's expectations of me, to the point where they could no longer be disappointed. People gradually ceased to take an interest in my life until they had no reason left to think of me. The dead lived on in the memory of the living, but there were plenty of living people who no one else ever thought about."





"Before she left me, I remember Cathy complaining that I was motivated by hate instead of love. I think she meant it in the carrot-and-stick sense. The honey-and-vinegar sense. Like how I didn't try to quit drinking when I loved somebody. How I only did it later, when I hated myself. Most of the motivation for getting sober came from the belief that it would immediately solve the bulk of my problems. Depression. Anxiety. Indigence. Loneliness. Obesity. The bruxism that ground away my tooth enamel every night when I passed out. It was true that each of those things decreased in severity once I stopped get- ting sloshed, but none of them fully disappeared. I wasn't reborn as a seventeen-year-old with a decade's worth of unblown opportunities lined up before me like freshly wrapped Christmas presents. I was still twenty-six. Still broke. My old flames had moved on. My tooth enamel did not grow back."

"But any day, any moment, is new and different than any moment that has ever come before it, because the order of occurrences has not yet solidified into unyielding history. It is still pliable and subject to influence. Subject to improvisation, to spontaneity. To whim. She inhabited a present-a present finite only if one insisted on measuring it in time and in that present a train could do such unexpected things. It could drive across the empty air as though it were solid as any rail, as though the only thing keeping any of us from liberation was our insistence on hewing to the tracks before us."

"My name is Dennis, and I lived years of my life in the dark, cursing and swatting at shapes in the dark. My name is Dennis and it's still Dennis, and I don't know if that first Dennis is different from this one or if it's all the same Dennis and always will be."

[Kaylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me entranced from start to finish. I picked it up very randomly from the library and just enjoyed it so much. It was honest, real, and human. It leaves enough room for the reader to find their own meaning in the stories. I really like that.

[Joy D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Philadelphia in current times, twenty-six-year-old Dennis Monk is newly sober after spending his recent years in the grips of alcohol addiction. The storyline is episodic and follows his year of “couch surfing” from one place to another as he attempts to maintain his sobriety while getting his life back together. He encounters many temptations to fall off the wagon. A sequence of old friends, relatives, and acquaintances offer to help him by giving him a place to crash. He tries to help out in order to avoid feeling like a sponge. He takes menial jobs while attempting to assemble a career of some sort, preferably in journalism or writing.

This is a marvelous debut. Dennis is such a fragile character, but readers eventually gain an understanding of his personality, foibles, and basic good nature. Dennis gets himself into numerous predicaments, which turn into wild, and occasionally humorous, adventures. We eventually learn the backstory of the event that led him to try his best to change his life. It is not an AA twelve steps story. I found it easy to become immersed in it and look forward to reading this author’s future works.

[Ben Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

if my next statement makes sense to even one single person, please reach out - this books felt like a The Wonder Years album about someone stopping drinking without any program.

the structure felt like short stories except all with the same protagonist and in the same world. I liked that it's just about relationships and friendships and learning and existing as a young adult in a 21st cent city/hometown. Anyways, glad it took me like 9 months to finish this one bc it is interesting to track how I've thought about the book as I've read/reread chapters of it over time. ALSO GO BIRDS!!!

Also - “I'd been misinformed regarding the centrality of f Scott Fitzgerald to the American job market.” Rude

[Theresa]

Really enjoyed this story about the first year of sobriety for two reasons.

One, the author has a very strong voice. This book felt like hanging out with my GenZ brothers. He captures the tone of a jaded, smartass, mid-20 something perfectly. A bit annoying in his know-it-all-ness but genuinely likable.

Second, I’m a sucker for books that convey a strong sense of place. I like to feel like I’m visiting another city without leaving my house. This book is so specific in its characterization of Philadelphia it made me feel like I was right there.

[Steph Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first third of the book I found myself laughing at Dennis laughing at himself. Then I sobered up with him to discover that alcoholics are selfish and when they try to sober up, it is usually too late to turn to those who used to like/love you; relationships have been fractured. And while Dennis doesn’t remember what happened and “why are they treaying me like this”, those old likes/loves haven’t forgotten.

A good book. A page turner for sure.

[Yahaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covering the first year of recovery through vignettes or episodes that flow together, Dennis Monk meanders from Bucks County to Philadelphia in search of something. How do you go back to where you’re from as a changed person? Is it even home anymore as the city quickly changes around him? Sobriety is a reset button in all aspects of his life. Old friends disappear while some show up under a new light. At 27, he needs to start building the life he wants (a job and a place to stay would be great starts). This doesn’t follow the usual addiction narrative we’re used to seeing; there are no AA meetings or rehab and we don’t get many flashbacks from Dennis’ past. We don’t get a clear ending because this is his new normal and it’s an active continual process.

[pk · Rating 5 out of 5]

we're so back

i've been basically waiting to write about this book since the moment i picked up the ARC. knowing nothing about this title going in, i was absolutely struck by the first paragraph, and continued reading and reading and reading until i realized i was chapters in and had put no real effort in.

which is not to say that this book is "simple"-on a sentence level, deagler brillantly balances simplicity and complexity, beauty, and style. the story itself is so basic, so down to earth, yet it's the writing that truly sells the thing, it's the writing that sets this above. i enjoyed the structure of the narrative, each chapter as a new place, a new couch, a new situation. the cast of characters was very, very real.

but what i really want to talk about here is something very interesting i noticed throughout the narrative that i've found to pop up in many modern novels that attempt to neutrally depict the State of Things TM in the last few years socially and politically. it shows up in various parts, but most significantly starting during the chapter, maybe the third or fourth, where he's staying with his female friend on a "bad" side of town. i've gone over this so many times on my head i'll likely be unable to reflect my thoughts as accurate as i could have when i was actively reading the book, but from that section forward there is a sort of simmering racial resentment and antagonism i find wildly interesting. dennis' charcater is presented as a down to earth, normal sort of guy with friends of all sorts, but who seems to lean neutral-liberal despite not seeming to have specific convictions of his own, based on comments about anti-immigrant sentiment around. he also speaks a lot about gentrification, which i doubt he would care about or at least refer to in that way if he wasn't at least mostly on the liberal side of the spectrum.

there is a profound sense of loss due to his alcoholism-it has taken away not only the memories of certain situations and times and granted him this empty space in the lives of many of his friends who stopped checking in on him, but there is also a major loss of opportunity, critical years wasting away in the face of booze. so in many cases when he's staying with various friends, he's looking at their lives in comparison to his own, and this results in a strange thing where he is looking at the people around him, these hipsters and, by his own words, gentrifiers, and understanding that it is only his supposed failures in life that keeps him from being those people. at the same time, as presented in the chapter where he is staying with his friend in the bad neighbourhood, he has been put in a situation where he has more in common with vagrants and crackheads than he does with his tech-working hipster peers, and, in my estimation, the entire narrative is attempting to square this away. the scene that really gives it away is in that same chapter, where he gets very upset at his friend being catcalled, but then goes on to completely thoughtlessly threaten a teenager a few pages later, becoming these same men he has a chip on his shoulder about.

when he's musing about bucks county, about white flight and the suburbs, it is written with a underlying sense of resentment that he missed out, discussing his father but reflecting on himself, too. and that, for me, is the most significant element of the book. it's not just about getting sober and figuring out how to live your life as a sober man, but it's also about Being A Man a little after the turn of the century who doesn't know how to handle changes in the big wide world, including the changes of those he once cared about moving on, and the enviroment he once knew no longer being what it once was. and in that sense, it remind me very much of a lot of the male-centric classic literature we love so much from the other turn of the century.

[Libby Low · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a really moving story and it felt truly rooted in reality. It was slightly too slow paced for me but otherwise I really enjoyed it!

[Regan, Maze, and MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying that this book is extraordinarily well-written. Michael Deagler is a very talented writer. I think that "Early Sobrieties" is a great showing of what Deagler is capable of. I was consistently amazed at how beautiful the writing was, even if I did not love the subject matter.

I gave this book 3 stars as I struggled to connect to this story. I graduated undergrad and law school. I think of myself as an educated person. However, I found myself constantly having to look up words that Deagler was using in each chapter. I think it would have been helpful if Deagler mentioned that Monk had an English degree a bit earlier in the story. During the beginning, I was wondering how an unemployed man who went to a "not great" college had a vocabulary that rivals any professor or lawyer I have ever worked with. Mentioning the fact that Monk had an English major earlier in the story would have helped me settle into the story rather than questioning the vocabulary of Dennis.

I found it hard to want to read more than a chapter or two at a time. However, I think this can be easily overcome by marketing the book as character driven, rather than plot driven so that it reaches the hands of the perfect reader. Unfortunately, I think I am far from the perfect reader for this book. Fortunately for Deagler, I think that means there are many people who will find this to be a 5 star read.

Thank you to NetGalley and AstraHouse for this advanced eARC. I appreciated the opportunity to read Early Sobrieties. I hope that it will find its way into the hands of readers who will thoroughly enjoy it.

[Marley B · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Beauty will find you, wherever you are".

Strong 4.5 on this one, which was definitely surprising for me -- it is the kind of book I think that I would enjoy out the gate (very character-driven, a meaner version of me would call it a book where nothing really happens), but I actually began the book feeling very passive about it. I even told my roommate, once I was maybe two or three chapters into the book, that I felt like I didn't really understand it -- I could tell that the author was going for /something/, but it read too much like a first book for me to really grasp it (artsy in a way I don't love).
The one thing I will say is I did love the dialogue from the start. It's not laugh out loud funny, but definitely gave me a few nose exhales haha.
I read probably the last six or seven chapters in one sitting -- maybe that's why I found myself loving it so much? I don't know exactly when, where, or how it changed, but suddenly I was 200 pages in and feeling sick in the pit of my stomach, and the main character is holding a baby, and next thing I am sobbing my eyes out on the floor.
I don't relate to the main character in the same way, not exactly, but the story this tells is one I've seen a thousand times before. And oh, how my heart aches for those lost and looking for love, those searching to be wanted.

"Love should be so smooth you could sleep in it. So tender you forget your ache." No tough love, just hold me. I am crying again.

[Mark Miano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could give up a year. I could give up a few. I'd lost a few already. I could lose a few more. Here - take my years. Dole them out to the others. Share them with Dave Deane and Ranim and Owen. With Maeve Slaughtneil. Make their lives long, if you can't make them good.
Take my years, just leave me my days. Leave me tomorrow at the very least. An addict only ever wants tomorrow. Tomorrow, I can make it work. Give me tomorrow to splash across my face, to muss into my hair. Let me walk around it, watch the compost molder in the yard, smell the season on the river. Let me show you how okay I am, how good, how sorry. How easy to love. I have to be inflexible on this. I can't compromise any further. I'll cry and yell and plead. I'll beg you on my knees.
Just give me one more day.

Michael Deagler is a wonderful writer - lyrical, indelible, and profound, as noted by that quote.

I was frustrated by this novel at first because it felt like there wasn't a connection between the people Dennis Monk encounters in his transient, early sober life. There didn't seem to be a connection, besides his early sobrieties. The ending brings things full circle, even if it's a disturbing one. I recommend this one.

[Alex Yurcaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I thought the prose was genuinely profound, in an understated way. Our protagonist’s outlook is extremely specific (and I’ll admit, being a Philadelphian growing up in the early 2000s provides a lot of helpful context), but there’s a remarkable depth and empathy that emerges from that specificity. This is a deeply earnest, at times very funny, at times heartbreaking novel that I will be recommending to all of the men in my life. Really beautiful work. I will definitely be on the lookout for more writing from Michael Deagler.

“Like all Pennsylvania towns, mine was founded with the best of intentions. It had subsequently fallen short of expectations and continued on in a state of gradual regress. Such was the fate of most Pennsylvania things and most Pennsylvania people. We liked to laugh at the Amish, but they realized long ago that if you ask for more than the minimum you’ll end up disappointed.”

[Kyle Seibel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conflicted about this book like I haven’t been in some time. It came highly recommended by several people who share my tastes and seems to be inspired by some of my favorite authors.

In many ways, it feels like a lot of new mainstream literary fiction. Inert prose and lack of any distinctive style. It’s marketed as a novel but it’s clearly a linked story collection (or was in some previous draft, I’d bet fucking money). The interiority feels occasionally ludicrous and the narrative often relies on coincidence to move the story forward that can come off lazy or repetitive.

And still! Each chapter won me over for the most part, charmed by the contrast of haplessness and wisdom. In the end, I grew fond of the main character and was a little sad when it was all over.

I think this book suffers by comparing it to generational talents like Denis Johnson, but as its own thing, it’s more than worth your time.

[June Freifelder]

Not that much happened in this book, but that's probably the point of grappling with sobriety and how time moves. Obviously, setting was everything. Favorite references include RIP to Genuardi's, running into people from high school at Wawa and hating it, everyone moving to South Philly east of Broad (lol guilty), reading on abandoned piers and selfishly contemplating your existence, going to Prison Acme for no reason except to get a sheet cake when it isn't anyone's bday, the "Pope Zone" in 2015, the Parking Authority being only open business hours M-F, acting like flying over your bike handle bars on trolley tracks is a unique experience to you, losing a bird in the city and never recovering it, judging everyone's tiny rowhouse by how recently the kitchen was updated, and finally going to the zoo with adult siblings.

[James Agger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slice of (not) drinking life…like movie Trees Lounge

Like the lovable loser “Tommy” (Steve Buscemi) in one of my favorite films Trees Lounge, Michael Deagler's "Early Sobrieties" shows its main character stuck in a rut due to past decisions.

Unlike TL, however, Deagler offers a strong, though at times frustrating, look at what happens right after someone STOPS drinking. Meet Dennis Monk, the main character who embodies the “jawn” of a gentrifying south Philly.

This isn't a story about quick fixes or big life changes; instead, the author shows the real lack of inertia that often comes with getting sober at first. Even though Monk is on a “pink cloud,” he can’t get out of his own way.

Monk is smart and observant, but spends a lot of time just...not doing much. He's often just sitting around, not really trying to improve his life. Rides buses for fun and doesn’t really try to leverage his financially stable contacts for a better-paying job.

Deagler's writing is sharp, making this period of quiet inaction feel important and full of meaning. The book, in the end, makes us think about the value of just holding on.

PS - I added a “star” for all the Philadelphia references that were spot-on.

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

“How can you ever change if every mistake and humiliation of your life is folklore for those who witnessed it?”

This was really good and I had such a pleasant time reading this. I really connected with Monk as a character and I loved the way this story was told. We meet different people from Monk’s life and it was a very slice of life book. It was very easy and I think if you don’t connect with Monk as a character then you won’t enjoy this. Personally I loved it and it’s a 5 star for me. It had a sly humour to it and I really appreciate Monk as a character.

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 5 out of 5]

A damn good debut! Michael Deagler is now a must-read author for me. It feels rare to come across exceptional authors these days, and it’s clear that Deagler could write about anything and I’d like it. There’s not much plot to this book, besides following a recovering alcoholic grifter. And I was hooked. The macaw portion was probably my favorite.

[Nick Kunze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! Funny and felt very real.

Its episodic nature made it so there wasn’t much sense of pacing, but each vignette was impactful.

Really liked the main character couch-surfing as the plot driver for each new chapter.

Always like a quiet, funny book about the attempt to improve, and the musings on sobriety were great

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ramble through the life of twenty something American urbanists. Not uplifting but probably close to reality in an exaggerated fantasy sort of way. Ultimately the journey was too boring for me but I slogged through like one might do at a bad zoo.

[kt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written so so well, I really sympathised with the narrator and I was enjoying being on his journey through sobriety. However, it did read more like a short story anthology with how disconnected, and sometimes repetitive, the chapters were. I think I would have probably enjoyed it more if it flowed a bit differently, but I was still a huge fan of the writing.

[Adam Rotstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot to review this one. Dug it a lot.
Kind of like a long ass MJ Lenderman song.