Sirens

by Joshua Mohr

"To the short list of genuinely great addiction memoirs we can now add Sirens, a searing and at times hilarious account of Mohr's lost years in the dive bars and gutters of San Francisco. Like Mary Karr and Jerry Stahl, there is no line Mohr won't cross, either in his erstwhile quest for self-immolation, or his fearless honesty in reporting back from that time. But what sets this book apart is Mohr's unwillingness to traffic in pat notions of redemption."—Ron Currie, Jr."This isn't your average recovery memoir. Mohr's honesty in this book is astonishing and necessary, his candor about hitting bottom and relapsing deeply moving and important. It's a hell of a compelling read."—Cari LunaAcclaimed novelist Joshua Mohr provides a captivating and complicated account of his years of substance abuse and culpability in his non-fiction debut. Employing the characterization and chimerical prose for which he has been lauded, Mohr traces his childhood swilling fuzzy navels as a latch-key kid, through his first failed marriage, parenthood, heart-surgery, and his everyday struggle against relapse.Joshua Mohr is the author of Some Things that Meant the World to Me, one of Oprah Magazine's Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller; Termite Parade, an Editors' Choice pick at the New York Times Book Review; Damascus, called "Beat-poet cool" by the New York Times; and, most recently, Fight Song and All This Life. He recently moved with his family to Seattle, Washington.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Addiction, Biography Memoir, Drugs, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 17, 2017

About the author

JOSHUA MOHR is the author of five novels, including “Damascus,” which The New York Times called “Beat-poet cool.” He’s also written “Fight Song” and “Some Things that Meant the World to Me,” one of O Magazine’s Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, as well as “Termite Parade,” an Editors’ Choice on The New York Times Best Seller List. His novel “All This Life” was recently published by Counterpoint/Soft Skull.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who know me know that I don't typically go in for non-fiction or memoir but this is Joshua Fucking Mohr, one of my major small press author crushes.

Being asked to read Sirens was like being given a backstage pass into Mohr's mind - how could I turn down the opportunity to roam freely inside his head as he breaks down his long and complicated relationship with drugs and alcohol?

This is not just a story of recovery, but one of acknowledging that the demons never die. And of celebrating every moment of sobriety like it's the first one. And of living in fear of relapsing but of loving something outside of yourself so fucking much that it gives you the strength to laugh in the face of that fear and reduce those demons to dust right before your very eyes.

It's funny and fascinating and, yes, at times so ridiculously sad, because it's so many of the friends I had back in high school and it makes me wonder where they are now and if they were able to kick their habits and make good lives for themselves or if they fell under the spell of their drugs of choice and got sucked in so far that they couldn't claw their way out.

It's a letter to junkies that its never too late, and that sometimes, as silly as it sounds, love really does fucking conquer all.

It's Joshua's love letter to himself and god damn if it didn't make me fall all that much more in love with him, too.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

You knew that Joshua Mohr had spent time in bars after reading any of his previous work, but how bad was it exactly?

Here you get the confessions of a young man addicted to chaos who found his logodadelus and emerged from the wreckage. The structure of his telling will remind you of that time in your own life, too, if you've indeed moved on from it and found new addictions like the joy in your daughter's laughter, love reflected in your partner's eyes, and solidarity in a literary community or any supportive community, for that matter.

I've loved every Josh Mohr novel I've read, but with this one, for some reason, I just had to keep at it, no matter how exhausted I was from driving and work. If you've ever had the privilege of seeing him read in person, you know that nobody else owns these stories and nobody else lights up a room full of literary types like this guy.

Thanks for writing this one, Josh.

[Patrick O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The long journey of conducting a life of debauchery from every barstool in SF’s Mission District to trying to get clean and sober, relapsing, tremulous relationships, fathering a child, and a heart-attack—this book is a heavy emotional rollercoaster ride of harsh realities amid the consequences of the recovering alcoholic’s life. Josh Mohr’s Sirens ushers in a new generation of addiction/recovery memoirs—do yourself a favor and read this book!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra points for starting the book with a quote from James Baldwin, my favorite author. Joshua Mohr bares all in this book and the result is worth reading.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intense. Examines addiction plus the perils of toxic masculinity. The prose itself has a bloody quality to it. Like it's the stuff in your veins, in your soul. Poetics in every paragraph and the pacing just goes, goes, goes. The siren metaphor is never strained. It combines classical themes with hard-edged realism. I will warn people: some parts are heartbreaking. Mohr reminiscing about his alcoholism can wither your soul a bit. It makes one wonder what we have to do to change our hearts to be the people who help, not hurt, the people around us.

[K M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an intense and honest memoir. No romanticizing of substance abuse and addiction here. Just gritty, raw honesty and great writing.

[Adam Rodenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be clear, I know Josh as he was the last professor I had for workshop at USF.

Having said that, I've enjoyed all his books thus far. They've all been easy reads, which is not to say they are simple. While all his books contain a raw nature to the prose, I feel like this one has the most teeth because it is the most true of all of them.

There are a lot of mirrored moments here that accurately portray much of my own 20s in Kansas City. Maybe that's why this one stuck so easily in my craw. I'm supposed to be getting ready for a DJing gig in St. Louis tonight; instead, I read this book all morning and could not, for the life of me, stop in order to prep for my trip. For lack of a better word (or less convenient pun), this was an addicting read. Not only for the prose and the stories, but for the fun vacillations of multiple timelines all playing out at once.

[Maril Crabtree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is one of the clearest and most well-written accounts of a young man's journey into, through, and on the other side of drug and alcohol addiction. His use of metaphor is spot-on and he never stoops to maudlin or self-pitying writing. If anything, he's too hard on himself. But by and large, he helps readers identify with - and even like - the man who nearly wrecks his life permanently with the "sirens of drugs and alcohol before deciding to live a clean and sober existence. Above all, Josh shows us the sheer complexity of what it's like to be human.

[Tricia Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The horrors of addiction tapered only by the poetry in this memoir. Mohr intertwines insight with anecdote with philosophical questions. A tenderly constructed time capsule of a man questioning his worth.

[Gail Ansel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow. Just this afternoon I finished the great Josh memoir and my husband and I spent dinner talking about parents and kids and perceptions and transformation and forgiveness. Holy shit.

The thing that's so amazing (well, one of the things) is the subtlety. Of composition and of complex thought processes and an emotional journey and language and, and, and. Wow.

I thought I'd come out of it with a better understanding of a close family member, who overdosed (for the 10th? 15th? time) at 35 and died. I was quasi surrogate mom---and the one who got those phone calls and dragged him to rehab and begged him to stop and tried every last goddamned thing. I blamed myself and then he convinced me how stupid that was. So, yes, I appreciate more than I can say that I finally made some major connections from this book. The unanswerable causalities.

But. Really, the strength of this book is the utter selflessness, oddly. Memoir=Navel gazing, right? Josh turns that upside down. It's not self-deprecating (though, Jesus H Christ, I wanted to say to the author---can you give this poor guy a break?!)

It's humble. It's very humility is a masterful driving force.

I LOVE that he exhaustively researched his ASD closure and caths, and then the book elevates even more into a dissertation on duality and then once again into contemplation on being a child of--eh, em---imperfect parents whilst also being an imperfect parent. Yeah--that, "how could my parent do that to his child...?" His answers are complex and far from judgemental.

I really loved Jeannette Wall and Mary Karr's memoirs, but for all their seductive world building full-on immersion, there was always something intensely self-involved, something missing.

Joshua Mohr found it. He avoids the whole whiny addict thing. I'll be thinking about the addicts I know, the parents I know, the imperfect people I know and the people who love them, for a long time.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought about giving this book 4 stars when I finished, but then realized I ripped through the whole thing in one day. Sirens is a raw, intimate look at a man’s struggles with addiction, relapse, and recovery, and how all of those experiences shape him as a father and husband. Mohr manages to both revel in his debauchery without glorifying it, and shamelessly illuminate the depths that his addiction took him to. His writing is pulpy without being over the top or cheesy, but also lyrical and beautiful and poetic all at once. It would have been easy for him to write another plain ol memoir about someone who had a hard time with drugs and alcohol and “oh boo hoo it was horrible but I’m ok now”. Instead, he manages to capture perfectly the dichotomy that exists within people in recovery of wanting a life of serenity and being content while also wrestling with the urge, whether loud or quiet, to throw it all away and watch everything fall to pieces, because that has been the norm for so long. I loved it.

[Jabiz Raisdana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a harrowing terrifying look at addiction and the ultimate redemptive qualities of hope and fatherhood.

Mohr is in his element with the language of this memoir. There are no boring accounts of events. What Mohr does instead is use his provocative and image rich prose to bring his scenes to life. The tales he recounts are powerful metaphors drenches in emotions.

This is a must read for anyone who is a fan of Mohr's work, but also for readers in search of why and how we can fall so far away from being the people we are meant to be.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Mohr's "Sirens" should come with a warning label. Smart, beautiful, gritty, Mohr's memoir of substance abuse, recovery and relapse will shatter you with its honesty.

Mohr's prose has a corporeal presence, and you read it with your whole body, rather than just your mind. Which makes his openness about the fragility of his own recovery feel incisive. It points to a greater truth about mortality we may recoil from, but should allow ourselves to feel.

[Joshua Lerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, tender, tough. It's straight forward prose; Mohr's account is of a time in his life that would stomp on frills and filigree. He bares his wounds and misdeeds, not with the effect of generating sympathy, but as an invitation to the reader to be more accepting of themself and the dark corners we hide from the world. Ultimately, it's a story about the healing power of honesty.
I was enthralled with this book and read it in two days.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sirens is many things: a brutally honest and stridently original approach to the addiction memoir; a love song to a San Francisco that doesn't exist any more; a coming of age story with Fernet and special K. But if you've ever thought about crossing over to the sunny side of the street, Sirens is essential reading.

[Daniel Vlasaty · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book that knocked me on my ass. it's crazy how much of myself, my addictions, my stupid bullshit, my relapses and excuses, i see in this book. change the setting from California to Chicago and this is almost play-by-play my life story (minus the heart surgery and strokes). one of my old writing professors even makes an appearance in the book.

[Robert Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sirens was among the books I most looked forward to read, and it did not disappoint. All the more because it is memoir, and I imagine the toughest sort of writing to produce. Inventive, emotional, heartfelt. A page turner.

[Eric Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far is all I’ve got

[Cheryl Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most smart and self-destructive people, Joshua Mohr is an expert on his own faults. Throw in some childhood trauma, and it's a recipe for a drug- and alcohol-fueled shame spiral. "Do I want to end up alone and alcoholic?" he asks, not entirely rhetorically. "No, of course not. Yes, of course." I've never been in a twelve-step program, but so much of this book resonates with my own tendencies toward shame and self-destruction, in small and not-so-small ways. This memoir is Mohr's play-by-play attempt to avoid a relapse following the birth of his daughter and a heart surgery that comes with tempting pain meds. His stories of drinking and drugging and struggling are not always super original--that's part of the thing about addiction, most roads lead toward cliche--but his sincerity and humility are written in blood on every page.

He likes to write conversations with imaginary people and objects, a device which works better in some cases than others. One of the most successful examples is an ongoing dialogue with Dr. Werner Forssmann, a Nobel-winning cardiac surgeon who pioneered the technique that ultimately saved Mohr's life. Dr. Forssmann was also a Nazi. This book wrestles with the multitudes we all contain.

[Lauren Sapala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gutted me on a lot of levels. It’s very possibly the most beautiful book I’ve read in the last couple of years. I found myself in so many of the stories Mohr shared—being an addict/alcoholic, being a writer, being the parent of a small child (and a parent who finds that situation frequently challenging), being a struggling artist in San Francisco. I felt like I gave a huge sigh of relief as I read every single section. OMG, I’m not alone! Someone else has gone through these things and actually has the kind of insane bravery it takes to talk about them honestly!

In fact, after reading this book I can say truly that Joshua Mohr is one of the bravest writers I’ve ever come across.

Sirens explores it all—the shadow side of our human nature, the complex layers that go into making up what we call a human being, the anguished struggle each of us goes through to live a life that actually has meaning. And Mohr’s writing hit me on every level as he explored each of these topics, the emotional, the mental and even the physical.

This is a book I’ll be rereading for sure. It’s also one of those special books that I’ll be passing onto fellow writers and artists.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly well written, this book grips you right from the start and stays in your head for quite awhile. A personal account of addiction and the fight for sobriety, it’s gritty, at times humorous, and brutally honest. Not quite a five star read just because I felt it was a bit one dimensional. The focus seemed entirely on addiction and didn’t delve into other aspects of Mohr’s life. But that was perhaps the point, that the addiction was so interwoven in his life that it wasn’t until he had a family that he had a strong enough desire to pull away from the chaos. A quick read, which I appreciated since it was intense and necessarily depressing through most of the book.

[Laurie Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What amazes me most about this book is how Mohr moves back and forth in time, flawlessly weaving together events of his childhood, his recovery from addiction, and the present moment. As with his other books, Mohr's brutal honesty and unique imagery in Sirens keep me engrossed. I read the book in a couple days, but continue to go back, rereading the passages I loved. Mohr gives us the highest of the high points of human existence and couples them with the lowest of the lows. All I can say is wow -- go read this book!

[emmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

i genuinely have not lost hope and found hope simultaneously in a book before. it truly has made me want to cry and dance at the same time. if broke me into a million pieces and put me back together with a gentle promise of tomorrow. maybe not an eternity of tomorrow’s, but enough that i will never be too far gone.

joshua mohr is truly inspiring in this, brutally honest, and accountable in the self-deprecating kind of way. he’s seen (and done) it all, and he’s decided he doesn’t need more.

i’m truly being honest. if i had to pick a book to showcase humanity, i would pick this one.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written book cataloging Joshua's addiction, and at the same time detailing the powerful impact people have had on his life. While the content of this book was often heavy, the novel itself was written in a way that I found easy to read. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to exploring what else Joshua Mohr has written.

[Anne Meehan-Dunham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short but intense memoir. Joshua Mohr masterfully weaves in his current situation, which triggers a visit to his childhood and other salient moments. His honesty and vulnerability lift the narrative, and he courageously faces his demons while trying to be the father his little girl deserves.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sucked me in, and I couldn't put it down. Mohr's writing style shows agency as he tells his addiction story—he is not a victim, and yet we empathize for him anyway. Whether we have physical addictions or not, we all have sirens of some sort. I highly recommend this.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of attending a memoir writer's workshop with Josh. It was a great experience. He read or referenced many of the best parts of this book. He mentioned some parts he was reworking in a newer edition. All of this probably impacted my impression of the book.

[Cris Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

The disjointed story adds to the momentum of the author's story. We get snippets of his recovery combined with recollections of his addiction and related stories that give keen insights. Great recovery bio. Recommended.

[Austin Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me three years to read.

I bought it when I was an editor taking a writing class from the author. I finished it when I was a counselor in a rehab facility. Oh, the places you will go.

It was worth the trip.

[Wendy Adamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I not only loved Joshua's writing, but the way he structured Sirens pulled me into different time frames of his life, in a unique and engaging way. I love his writing so much that I want to read more of Joshuas work.