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Last Night I Sang to the Monster

4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 · rating details · 978 ratings · 190 reviews

Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He's also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He's not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive - well, what's up with that?

I have it in my head that when we're born, God writes things do...more

Hardcover, 239 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Cinco Puntos Press

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One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

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Most Poetic Book Titles

66th out of 635 books — 322 voters

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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YALSA 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults

1st out of 17 books — 18 voters

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Nov 10, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-and-teens, addiction, made-me-cry, lgbt, library-books, favorites

Zach is a high school senior. He is also an alcoholic. His mom is depressed, his dad is an alcoholic, and his brother is abusive. Zach has so much pain in his young life that he blocks out the events that led to his stay in rehab.

With the help of a kind and sympathetic therapist, and his roommates, Rafael, a 53-year-old alcoholic further along in his recovery, and Sharkey, a 27-year-old drug addict, Zach begins to confront his past and discovers that life is worth living.

I connected deeply with...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Raya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dysfunctional-characters, young-adult, heavy-boots, mental-health, realistic-fiction, contemporary, catchy-titles

I do like and appreciate what Sáenz presents in this novel, and the writing style holds down a nice sense of prose blended with poetic flair and metaphor. At the same time, this story doesn’t grip me—and I mean really, truly grip me—the way other books do. I’m talking about books like There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Those are books that captivate my attention and emotions and seizes them very firmly. What I’m...more I do like and appreciate what Sáenz presents in this novel, and the writing style holds down a nice sense of prose blended with poetic flair and metaphor. At the same time, this story doesn’t grip me—and I mean really, truly grip me—the way other books do. I’m talking about books like There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Those are books that captivate my attention and emotions and seizes them very firmly. What I’m saying is this: Sáenz has what I believe to be a good and powerful story (especially for the YA audience—ages 15/16 and up, though depending on maturity level), but it’s not a story I fully connect to. And to be honest, I don’t think I allowed myself to fully connect. I didn’t want to.

Zach’s story is not something I was able to read through in one sitting, or even split into chunks over several days. When I first started reading, I took a week-long break before holding it in my hands again and greeted its text. I think Sáenz does an exemplary job at relaying a proper sadness, anger, anxiety, and even confusion in relation to Zach’s history, but this is what makes it difficult to read. I’ve read stories, both fiction and non-fiction alike, that range in subject matter from sexual abuse, addiction, death, murder… they’re mood dampeners, right? Even watching news can be depressive.

I swear, my local news has reported three child deaths and several adult deaths this week with enough sad detail to make me say, “Enough!” I don’t want to watch the news anymore, and I had a similar reaction to Last Night I Sang to the Monster.

Unlike other stories I have read with similar topics, Sáenz's writing effectively altered my mood sate. In other stories, I’ve read and thought, “Jesus, how horrible,” and then I sympathize. However, this story actually latched on to me and dragged my mood lower, lower, and lower for most of its length. There is a lot of gloomy text to march through, and it wasn’t until Zach took a little more interest in his environment that I became genuinely curious about other characters (e.g., What are their stories? What will happen to them? and so on). Soon after, I found myself turning pages just hoping I could finally piece together what happened to Zach—something he doesn’t remember or want to remember.

What bothered me was forcing myself to read through Zach’s refusal to even try to remember. Even though repressing his memory and not wanting to remember are both understandable and realistic, I felt like I was sifting through repetitive “I’m sad/upset/leave me alone/God, I need some bourbon” statements. In a way, this gives a full picture that’s necessary in comprehending Zach’s complexity of character and emotion—to understand why he is the way he is without making undue judgment from an outsider’s perspective.

Something happened to Zach, something tragic. I can’t give away what that something is, but when repressed memories and tragic events are involved, it is not likely that an individual will suddenly have a “Great, great! Remembering is fantastic!” moment. It’s a slow, laborious process, and readers journey in baby steps alongside Zach’s progressive course. As a result from this “progressive course,” it is promising to watch Zach learn how to trust and form relationships all the while slowly allowing his barrier to crumble.

Stories like Zach’s are not only sad to read about, but to think about, and they often do not end well. Sáenz, with admirable lyrical quality, shows that these stories do not always have to meet lamentable endings. Given, however, the right set of support and assistance—which, I think, is rare to come by compared to a general survey of outcomes. Regardless, it’s a great showcase of how a damaged, broken individual can face the odds and find inner-strength to plow through hourly struggles. Literally. Every day is a struggle—every hour, every minute, can feel like hell.

For me, and generally speaking, this story is a great example of facing your “monster” and digging deep to find a will to fight and change. Discovering a new-found sense of will means realizing I do want to live despite the suffering and excruciating hurt that has inflicted life-long damage. While emotional and mental scarring may never completely heal, it’s a matter of perspective and how willing a person is to accept what has occurred and “make the best of it” (so to speak). However, there is a lot more when looking at the specifics to Zach’s story, yet I hesitate to talk about it. (I would hate to spoil anything!)

All in all: well-written example of an injured character’s journey toward recovery. Ultimately, this story bestows awareness, understanding, and, I believe, inspiration and hope. If you’re up for handling a dismal climate, I do recommend this book. (Though you may want to consider some lighter material to balance it out—I certainly did.)(less)

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Mar 16, 2012 Wendy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-winner, awesome-inner-dialogue, books-i-read-to-learn-stuff, contemporary, everyone-should-read-this-book, ya-loved

update: I'm a rare 5 star person. It has to be an overall good book with a decent plot, sympathetic characters, unobtrusive language and a satisfying ending. And above all else, it should be believable. This book had it all for me.

As for a satisfying ending, some people like non-endings, like how "The Giver" ended. Some people, like G.R.R. Martin wants everyone dead and long forgotten as time marches on. I, more or less, like happy endings.

And believable, even if its paranormal/mythical, there...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: High School and above

I have to say that this has quietly become one of my favorite books. The story is about addiction and the walls in one's life that block recovery. It's about trying to forgive in order to live life. I'll admit it was a slow read for awhile, but I think it was a subconscious thing. The danger is that it's too easy to see yourself in the characters that are portrayed and that can be difficult, especially if you've dealt with any kind of recovery in your life. And who hasn't these days?
More than a...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Manda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: beautiful-story, best-of-best, fave-protagonists, stars-clouds-brain-food, all-for-one-and-one-for-all, beauty-ambiguity-allegory, best-mentor-mentees, better-than-expected, break-your-heart-kind-of-story, character-love, flawed-hero-to-root-for, for-love-of-artsyness, from-rock-bottom, here-be-uncovering-truth, i-feel-you-bro, love-me-squeeze-me-haunt-me, male-pov, my-own-personal-heroes, oh-god-nooo-moment, philosopher-creator-storyteller, reality-dark-yet-beautiful, resonating, ridiculous-happiness-and-sadness, smells-like-mature-teen-spirit, every-kid-needs-a-carla, learn-new-things, words-for-you-truths-for-me, romance-free-zone, books-i-can-reread-forever

I tried reading this once a couple of months ago, but put it down before getting too far into it. So why the five stars now? Because I picked it up again when I was in a sort of funky mood, and that was when I really connected with the story and couldn't put it down. Last Night I Sang to the Monster tells the story of Zach, an alcoholic, who's in a treatment facility for something that happened that he can't and doesn't want to remember. He has a certain philosophy about life:

I have it in my he

...more I tried reading this once a couple of months ago, but put it down before getting too far into it. So why the five stars now? Because I picked it up again when I was in a sort of funky mood, and that was when I really connected with the story and couldn't put it down. Last Night I Sang to the Monster tells the story of Zach, an alcoholic, who's in a treatment facility for something that happened that he can't and doesn't want to remember. He has a certain philosophy about life:

I have it in my head that when we’re born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people’s hearts he writes happy and on some people’s hearts he writes sad and on some people’s hearts he writes crazy and on some people’s hearts he writes genius and on some people’s hearts he writes angry and on some people’s hearts he writes winner and on some people’s hearts he writes loser. [...] It’s all like a game to him. Him. God. And it’s all pretty much random. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he wrote sad. I don’t like God very much. Apparently, he doesn’t like me very much either.

If I had to describe this book, I'd say that it was sad but beautiful. Not sad in a melodramatic tearjerker kind of way, but sad because Zach is just someone who feels sad deep down to his core, and you can't help feeling it along with him. Zach's voice reminds me of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower except he's older and not as naive - therefore I found him a lot more relatable. There are some people who deal with the ugly in the world by getting angry and destructive in an explosive way. This is the other extreme. Zach gets sad and retreats within himself, something that's familiar and understandable to me because I find that I do the same thing. Zach says "Okay" and "Sure" and "Fine" a lot. He stares at a stain on the carpet at Group sessions and while he likes hearing other people's stories, doesn't like to talk himself because he doesn't think of himself as articulate. He used to get angry and drank bourbon while going on long walks to forget. One thing that I think I learned from this book is that there's a difference between introversion and isolation; one is a preference, the other a choice. It's ok to not always want to be around people, but you shouldn't completely cut yourself off from the world. Reading this book was like therapy.

I have a lot of love for the other characters in the book, and Zach's view of them: from Adam, his therapist, to Rafael and Sharkey, his roommates, as well as the many of the other cast of minor characters that pop up over the course of the book. They're real, they're genuine, and they're not perfect.

Just a note on the title: (view spoiler)
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Sep 27, 2012 Conkristador rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

The cover design on this book does no justice to the story revealed within. Whoever created it is trying to be too symbolic. Oh man, torn pieces of paper to represent a young man trying to piece together his repressed life. DERP

The actual story is beautifully written. The reader finds 18 year old Zach living in a rehab center with no recollection of why he is actually there. You start the book knowing that something so terrible, dreadful, awful probably happened that his own brain wouldn't let h...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Charlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Quotes:

“I’m not sure God knew what he was doing when he put feelings inside of us. What is the purpose for human emotions? Will somebody please tell me?” (p. 21)

“Carpets get stains and people get scars” (p. 97)

“We couldn’t stop laughing. I mean we were really laughing. And I got to thinking that the whole thing really wasn’t that funny, but we were laughing because there was all these feelings inside us and we didn’t always know what to do with all the feeling that were like knots that needed t...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Naomi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark-deep-compelling, favs-of-2012, the-favourites

After savouring this book over a small dosage of caffein and some sacrifices from my sleeping hours, I was a 10 on the happiness scale. Zach was an articulate,brilliant and self-loathing yet amazingly rational guy. He brought up thoughts about how this insane world screwed us up and screwed us.over endless times. I really got to hand it to Zach for stating the obvious we earth people can't see or understand. We blame God and other people responsible for our shitty life when indeed things do occu...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: liked, read-in-2011, addicted-to-ya

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really love the title of this book. It just really, I don't know, works. Man does this story every just pull on your heartstrings! Zach would definitely be on my list of top 5 protags that need a hug. One of those long hugs that last a few seconds too long, yeah one of those.

The book didn't focus on his addiction or anything, and not too much on his family life. Sure, both things are in the book but really the book is about Zach's journey through reh...more

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May 25, 2011 Dylan Martinez added it

Last Night I Sang To The Monster
“Last Night I Sang To The Monster” is a very depressing book. This book got my attention because of the book cover, it looked interesting and the tile got my attention too. This book at the beginning the main character Zach is saying that God writes things down on evrybodys heart like on some people he writes down happy, sad, crazy, genuis, angry, winner, loser and on Zachs heart he wrote down sad. When I read that that made me want to read the book more because...more

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May 05, 2011 Amanda Rose rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wont give a summary of this book, because that's clearly been done about a hundred times below. What I will do, is tell you what I thought of it.

Anyone who has given this book a high rating clearly has no understanding of addiction or teenagers. The language in this book is tedious and obviously contrived. He uses the same expressions over and over in an effort to sound young, or cool, or edgy, but it mostly just comes off as obnoxious. If I had to guess, the author writes "That really tears m...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Shin Yu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Saenz's book reminded me in ways of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces - similar themes, similar scenarios, but very different writing. The fact that Saenz is a poet, comes through in the craft and language of this young adult novel for adults. You will not find unending run-on sentences or vertical pages of text where there is a confusion about who is speaking, and pages of texts that could be trimmed - {I am thinking of Frey's work here.) The teenage protagonist, Zach, finds himself in a de...more

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Dec 18, 2009 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars

so I read this whole book yesterday and it was great. I am very excited to have my residents read it. Our 18 year old narrator Zach is in treatment, but can't (or doesn't want to) remember how he ended up there. It is clear to him that he is an alcoholic and that his (non)relationships with his depressed mother, alcoholic father, and abusive older brother have affected him negatively. But what events exactly led him to end up where he is now? The novel centers around his growing relationships wi...more

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Jun 06, 2011 bjneary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction, ya

A heart-wrenching tale of a young man, Zach, who is an alcoholic and finds himself at a rehab facility where he must remember in order to heal. Zach is an 18 year old who has so many skeletons in his closet and he doesn’t really talk too much but you know he has a mother (with depression problems) and a father (who drinks too much) and a brother who is so psychopathic, he is holding the family emotionally hostage. His childhood as he “remembers” it is so dysfunctional that he drinks in order to...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, minority-voices, issues

There are a lot of things I like about this book. I like that (as with Sáenz’s Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, which I loved) the speaker is Mexican-American but that this isn’t an “issue” that the book is trying to work through in any intentional way. I like that the age and situation of the protagonist is unconventional—Zach’s already 18, and he interacts almost exclusively with older people at the treatment facility where he’s recovering from his alcohol addiction and learning to remember the...more There are a lot of things I like about this book. I like that (as with Sáenz’s Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, which I loved) the speaker is Mexican-American but that this isn’t an “issue” that the book is trying to work through in any intentional way. I like that the age and situation of the protagonist is unconventional—Zach’s already 18, and he interacts almost exclusively with older people at the treatment facility where he’s recovering from his alcohol addiction and learning to remember the secret that’s cutting him off from the world. I like Zach’s voice, which is distant and intimate almost at the same time, shying away from emotive language (because Zach is a pro at finding ways not to feel) in such a way that we, as readers, feel for him.

Some people were annoyed by the tics in Zach’s private language; he says “tears me up” and “wigs me out” often. But I read this as a way of noting that he’s had an emotional response while evading the need to be responsible for the specific feelings. While others might object to the (unbelievably) sunny ending, I share my friend Alisa's conviction that part of the point of the book is that you ought to believe in this kind of ending, that nothing is more improbable yet necessary to believe in than an addict’s recovery.

The things that bothered me had to do with character and plotting. Part of this comes from Zach’s situation: there’s a muted, flattened affect in the narration because he’s determined not to feel anything and a lot of vagueness in what he narrates because he’s determined not to remember anything. But somehow, as the novel progresses, it undercuts its own drama. I come to know without knowing the source of Zach’s trauma, and even though it’s built up as THE revelation, I have trouble caring when I find out because I still know so little about the particulars of Zach’s family life.

Also, I get that Zach’s self-esteem issues keep him from seeing himself as others can see him, but I had trouble swallowing all the well-meaning interventions, not just by Zach’s therapist, but also by many of his fellow addicts. This was least convincing in one particular case, which illustrates in part my broader objection. One of Zach’s roommates, Sharkey, quits the facility, only to be replaced by Amit, who functions virtually identically to Sharkey in Zach’s life. Now, the similarity of their characters is bad enough: both are sleepwalking coke addicts with street smarts, sharp attitudes, and a passion for sunglasses and shoes. But what really gets me is that there is nothing that motivates Amit’s concern for Zach. He shows up, and suddenly he’s all caring and concerned. It’s as if (and the cynic in me wonders if Sharkey and Amit weren’t originally one character) Amit has just taken over Sharkey’s role.

Still, this is a thoughtful novel that may especially appeal to male readers and those who feel disconnected from family and peers. In terms of tone and development, LAST NIGHT I SANG TO THE MONSTER reminds me of Greg Galloway’s AS SIMPLE AS SNOW. I like Sáenz’s book much more, though.
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Mar 18, 2011 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, drugs, mental-illness, murder, rape, self-esteem, survival, ya-fiction

Your mother is a agoraphobic, your father is an alcoholic, and your brother is a drug addict and viciously beats you frequently. Zach is just 18 and loves his bourbon. He is brilliant and has plans to make the most of his abilities...but he needs to drink in order to numb the reality of his dysfunctional family. He is on a runway to destruction. He finds himself in rehab, not knowing how he got there or more importantly, why. His dreams are nightmarish and disturbing. While in rehab, Adam, his c...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Kristi rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone; specifically high school and college students

Recommended to Kristi by: YA Lit class

Shelves: young-adult

The prose in this novel is absolutely beautiful! I thought Zach was such a great character! One thing I really enjoyed about Saenz's writing is that even the minor characters, such as Adam, Rafael, Sharkey, and Amit, had depth and growth. Sure, they weren't as fully developed as Zach but through Zach, we were able to see their growth as well. This novel is incredibly hopeful and rich. There are so many beautiful metaphors--slips of paper in the mind, the monster, God writing words on our hearts....more

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Jun 18, 2010 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people interested in selective amnesia, addiction, domestic violence

Recommended to Susan by: FBL

Shelves: 2010read, youngadult, wanted, memory-loss

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "I walked around drinking and smoking and I kept crying and crying. I was, I don't know I don't know I don't know wigged out, sad, drunk, torn to shreds, shit. I hated Mr. Garcia. Why did he tell me things like you're a brilliant kid? Why did he write amazing on the board? That word was not a true word. It was not a word that lived inside me. And if he thought my papers were amazing, why didn't he keep that thought to himself? And why did he say, "Is it okay if I like you?" Who the fuck wanted t...more "I walked around drinking and smoking and I kept crying and crying. I was, I don't know I don't know I don't know wigged out, sad, drunk, torn to shreds, shit. I hated Mr. Garcia. Why did he tell me things like you're a brilliant kid? Why did he write amazing on the board? That word was not a true word. It was not a word that lived inside me. And if he thought my papers were amazing, why didn't he keep that thought to himself? And why did he say, "Is it okay if I like you?" Who the fuck wanted to like a kid like me?"

As soon as I read this quote near the beginning of the novel I knew I would like the book, but I also knew it would probably be a difficult read. Immediately, I wanted him to get out of my head, I didn't want to have to go to that place again, didn't want to have to feel the self-doubt and self-loathing and that frustration of not being able to reconcile my own image of myself and what other people saw. At the same time, I felt relieved that this guy (the protagonist, the author) understood exactly what it was like. I wasn't the only one in the world who used to go home in tears and beat myself up every time someone gave me a compliment.

It's a very well-written book. I think Saenz completely "got" the character he was writing. Whether he has personal, first-hand experience to back up his knowledge, I don't know, but it felt so real. As I predicted the narrative was difficult for me to read. Near the end, I began to feel that it was getting a bit repetitive and long, but I suppose that's an accurate depiction of rehab. The format of the book with the chapter divided into subchapters and the "remembering" interludes in between really suited the subject matter and helped with the pacing. I also loved the short "little pieces of paper" scattered throughout the narrative. Awesome book title as well. Saenz's style reminds me a bit of Laurie Halse Anderson and Kevin Brooks, and perhaps a bit of Hillary Frank as well. For some reason I'd never heard of him before, but I aim to check out his other YA books someday.

I'll end the review with one last quote, from Rafael: "I lived in pain because I chose to live in pain. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with the idea of tragedy, the idea that I was destined to live a tragic life. I had this romantic idea about the life of a writer and what he was supposed to suffer. [...:] Somehow I made my own pain a kind of god."

Grade: A-(less)

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May 09, 2013 Kayla rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I first started reading it, I was amused with Zach's life. I could not stop putting down the book. However, when I got into the middle part of the book, I got a bit *bored* (though I know that's not the term) See, Zach and his friends from the ward were really lonely and sad and messed up, almost as if they did not like to be happy ever. At all. Being a happy person, I questioned the characters, "why be sad?", "at least try to be happy". When I got into the last part, that was where I final...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Jww rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This story is told in the same vein of "adolescent literature" that made the novel "Push" so powerful, provocative, and controversial. A story of child abuse, alcohol addiction, and recovery, the author never shies away from the brutal truth, regardless of the intended age of the audience. For this I applaud him. Yet for this I also question the book's appropriateness for younger readers. It contains graphic tales of copious alcohol consumption, cocaine use, sex, and even strong suggestions of i...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-fiction, realistic-fiction, addiction, mental-illness

This book was pretty heart wrenching. On the surface, it could easily come across as yet another "problem" novel in an already flush genre. In reality, it is about much more than a troubled teen with an alcohol problem. It is a story about being honest with oneself, the importance of remembering, and being realistic about the choices one makes. The protagonist finds himself in a rehab clinic and cannot recall what it was that landed him there. Through a mix of present and recollected narratives,...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Simcsa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Simcsa by: Judies

Shelves: read-in-2013, read-in-english, contemporary-realistic-ya

Sorry Judies, I couldn't get myself out of bed to eat, let alone update. These would have been my updates.

__________________________________

"Look," I said, "all I know is that only thing I'm in charge of is Zach."
Adam smiled. "And how are you doing with that?"
"I'm doing a pretty shitty job if you ask me."

I wanted to ask her if she was better. I mean, if she was getting well. I wondered if something changed inside of you. I mean, there was this talk about change all the time and I wondered how an...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone - only mature readers please

This one brought tears to my eyes...a few times. When I first started reading "Last Night I Sang to the Monster," I was really annoyed with Zach, because he was so all over the place, hard to understand, and "inarticulate" as he would later come to describe himself. I struggled to get through the first half of the book, as Zach does with his rehabilitation, but once he started to let people in and started to experience feelings, that was all she wrote. Saenz use of narration really locks you in...more

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May 13, 2013 Hazel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-to-read

A book group choice and I am so glad I have found this author and read this book. Don't you just love finding authors that you have never before heard of and then just knowing that you will like anything they write.

I loved this authors writing style. It flowed very smoothly for what was a rough topic. He sucked me in from the start and I was making all sorts of guesses as to what Zach was trying to forget.

The author made me relate to Zach and a lot of the other characters and these are troubled...more

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May 09, 2010 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Thomas by: Nancy

Shelves: glbt

This was a very dark, depressing, disturbing book. Yet, it was also beautiful and bittersweet.

Zach finds himself in a rehabilitation facility with no memory of his past. He struggles with the monster living in his dreams and inhabiting his thoughts. There are people that help him though - like his therapist Adam, who is always the optimist, and his roommate Rafael, a 53-year-old man with the eyes of a young boy. Through his time at the treatment center he tries to conquer his isolation and vanqu...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Jonathon Hagger rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a good read. It delves into the inner workings of the mind and examines what can happen to people when life goes wrong. The characters are well explored and yet not overly complicated.

The central character is interesting and dealt with sensitively. There are themes and signs that repeat through the book yet the author chose not to explore these too deeply. I would have liked it more if he did. But then again I am not sure I fit the right criteria for the age of reader the book is pitched...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Mayra rated it 3 of 5 stars

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU are prepared to be SAD. I just felt so depressed the whole time I was reading this until of course 3/4 of the way through the book but even then its not like it ends with a happy ending. I had never read anything like this before so I was very intrigued. I did enjoy the book but at times the chapters seemed confusing and too short. I would always feel like did I find something out or not. I couldn't stop reading because I always wanted to know what the next chapt...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Kendra rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is kind of a difficult book to read, but it is well worth the effort. The main character, 18 year old Zach, is an alchoholic, and the book takes place in a treatment center where he is getting help. The story unravels slowly as Zach struggles to face up to his past and to remember the events that led to his being in treatment. This is a sad story, and it moves slowly, but I really loved it. I think it's a great read for anyone who knows someone who has struggled with addiction, and I think...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Kristina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Holy cow, was this a good read. I picked it up on a whim at the library, and finished it in no time flat. "Last Night I Sang To The Monster" grabs you in the first sentence and keeps leading you through until the end. The main character, Zach, is such a broken individual that one would really have to struggle to not want him to find happiness. It was somewhat of a short read for me (this may not be true for everyone - I go through books fast) but every second of it was beautiful. The characters,...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I hate to admit it, but I cried as I read this book on the train. The characters' breakthrough moments really affected me deeply. I don't have experience in situations like this, so I wasn't sure how to interpret the friendship between Zach and the older rehab patients (and therapist)--another reviewer said it hinted at child molestation because of the way it was written. I see the reviewer's point, and I got the same feeling, but it didn't take away from the book--I just thought it was my own u...more

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About Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.

He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humaniti...more

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Books by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

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Trivia About Last Night I Sang...

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Quotes from Last Night I Sang to t...

“I don't like remembering.
Remembering makes me feel things.
I don't like to feel things.

I'm thinking I could spend the rest of my life becoming an expert at forgetting” — 19 people liked it

“All my friends thought I was a very happy human being. Because that's how I acted- like a really happy human being. But all that pretending made me tired. If I acted the way I felt, then I doubt my friends would have really hung out with me. So the pretending wasn't all bad. The pretending made me less lonely. But in another was, it made me more lonely because I felt like a fraud. I've always felt like a fake human being.” — 18 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6413788-last-night-i-sang-to-the-monster?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327980334l/6413788.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6413788-last-night-i-sang-to-the-monster?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz[/url]

Last Night I Sang to the Monster

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