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Recovery
A thinly-veiled autobiographical novel, Recovery follows Dr. Alan Severance through his emotional journey of Freudian group analysis where he confesses his humiliations, defeats, and delusions in an attempt to purge himself and achieve normality.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
18 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
John Berryman
145 books241 followersJohn Allyn Berryman (originally John Allyn Smith) was an American poet, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and often considered one of the founders of the Confessional school of poetry. He was the author of The Dream Songs, which are playful, witty, and morbid. Berryman committed suicide in 1972.
A pamphlet entitled Poems was published in 1942 and his first proper book, The Dispossessed, appeared six years later. Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.' His first major work, in which he began to develop his own unique style of writing, was Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, which appeared in Partisan Review in 1953 and was published as a book in 1956. Another pamphle.
His thought made pockets & the plane buckt, followed. It was the collection called Dream Songs that earned him the most admiration. The first volume, entitled 77 Dream Songs, was published in 1964 and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. The second volume, entitled His Toy, His Dream, His Rest, appeared in 1968.
The two volumes were combined as The Dream Songs in 1969. By that time Berryman, though not a "popular" poet, was well established as an important force in the literary world, and he was widely read among his contemporaries. In 1970 he published the drastically different Love & Fame. It received many negative reviews, along with a little praise, most notably from Saul Bellow and John Bailey. Despite its negative reception, its colloquial style and sexual forthrightness have influenced many younger poets, especially from Britain and Ireland. Delusions Etc., his bleak final collection, which he prepared for printing but did not live to see appear, continues in a similar vein. Another book of poems, Henry's Fate, culled from Berryman's manuscripts, appeared posthumously, as did a book of essays, The Freedom of the Poet, and some drafts of a novel, Recovery.
The poems that form Dream Songs involve a character who is by turns the narrator and the person addressed by a narrator. Because readers assumed that these voices were the poet speaking directly of himself, Berryman's poetry was considered part of the Confessional poetry movement. Berryman, however, scorned the idea that he was a Confessional poet.
A pamphlet entitled Poems was published in 1942 and his first proper book, The Dispossessed, appeared six years later. Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.' His first major work, in which he began to develop his own unique style of writing, was Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, which appeared in Partisan Review in 1953 and was published as a book in 1956. Another pamphle.
His thought made pockets & the plane buckt, followed. It was the collection called Dream Songs that earned him the most admiration. The first volume, entitled 77 Dream Songs, was published in 1964 and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. The second volume, entitled His Toy, His Dream, His Rest, appeared in 1968.
The two volumes were combined as The Dream Songs in 1969. By that time Berryman, though not a "popular" poet, was well established as an important force in the literary world, and he was widely read among his contemporaries. In 1970 he published the drastically different Love & Fame. It received many negative reviews, along with a little praise, most notably from Saul Bellow and John Bailey. Despite its negative reception, its colloquial style and sexual forthrightness have influenced many younger poets, especially from Britain and Ireland. Delusions Etc., his bleak final collection, which he prepared for printing but did not live to see appear, continues in a similar vein. Another book of poems, Henry's Fate, culled from Berryman's manuscripts, appeared posthumously, as did a book of essays, The Freedom of the Poet, and some drafts of a novel, Recovery.
The poems that form Dream Songs involve a character who is by turns the narrator and the person addressed by a narrator. Because readers assumed that these voices were the poet speaking directly of himself, Berryman's poetry was considered part of the Confessional poetry movement. Berryman, however, scorned the idea that he was a Confessional poet.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 29, 2014
Like being punched in the face. However, completely different from his poetry. Berryman's not a novelist, and this is not a normal novel, and yet I couldn't put it down, even as I felt like its content was abusing my brain.
Berryman tracks his time in the hospital recovering from alcoholism with other addicts. He is brutally honest and self-searching about his own delusions, painfully blunt about his own confusion. The kind of book that will make you never, ever want to be an alcoholic, and also the kind of book that will give deep, unusual insight into the recovery process for chronic addicts. Important to anyone interested in the relationship between art and chemical self-destruction.
Read this alongside (or after reading) Lewis Hyde's famous essay "Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking."
Berryman tracks his time in the hospital recovering from alcoholism with other addicts. He is brutally honest and self-searching about his own delusions, painfully blunt about his own confusion. The kind of book that will make you never, ever want to be an alcoholic, and also the kind of book that will give deep, unusual insight into the recovery process for chronic addicts. Important to anyone interested in the relationship between art and chemical self-destruction.
Read this alongside (or after reading) Lewis Hyde's famous essay "Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking."
April 4, 2022
Berryman’s final, unfinished novel is interesting. The portions that survive are well written and rather harrowing, but as a whole, I don’t think the material here makes much sense to people who have not worked a 12 step program.
April 18, 2018
There are several words fighting for the most appropriate description of this novel, none of them positive. Feverish. Chaotic. Harrowing. Desperate. This is a semi-fictionalized, semi-autobiographical account of alcoholism and recovery, and Berryman does the whole experience brutally honest justice in his depiction of a selfish, struggling alcoholic who's teetering between desperation and pride, surrender and self-will. Readers working a Twelve Step program will find this very relatable, but not comforting. Readers unfamiliar with the Disease, the Steps, the Program, will probably find it hard to get through the insider's language to really connect to the author's perspective.
2.5 stars out of 5. There's a certain sad and unfulfilled promise to an unfinished book like this. There are some promising ideas on display like stones roughly hewn but unpolished, such as an interesting semi-start to an immunologist's view of how the body recognizes some things as "self" and some things as "not self" and the breakdown of this ability with regard to cancerous cell growth, which is a really novel line of metaphorical thought for an exploration of addiction and alcoholism, full of possibilities but never developed. Or a telling little section where the main character develops a pain on his scrotum which he stubbornly refuses to tell anyone about or even examine for himself, surely a setup to a parallel for problem drinking and how it goes ignored until it can't be any longer. But these symbolic turns aren't pursued and instead we stay in the literal, plot-driven narration and we see a consistent and repeated pattern: confrontational group therapy followed by introspective journaling, interlaced with a lot of Freudian analysis that marks this more as a period piece than anything else.
2.5 stars out of 5. There's a certain sad and unfulfilled promise to an unfinished book like this. There are some promising ideas on display like stones roughly hewn but unpolished, such as an interesting semi-start to an immunologist's view of how the body recognizes some things as "self" and some things as "not self" and the breakdown of this ability with regard to cancerous cell growth, which is a really novel line of metaphorical thought for an exploration of addiction and alcoholism, full of possibilities but never developed. Or a telling little section where the main character develops a pain on his scrotum which he stubbornly refuses to tell anyone about or even examine for himself, surely a setup to a parallel for problem drinking and how it goes ignored until it can't be any longer. But these symbolic turns aren't pursued and instead we stay in the literal, plot-driven narration and we see a consistent and repeated pattern: confrontational group therapy followed by introspective journaling, interlaced with a lot of Freudian analysis that marks this more as a period piece than anything else.
April 28, 2018
Considering this book is a collected narrative, with fragments and diary entries and no ending--at least not one found--it is still a bold essay about one man's encounters with others and himself in a tough rehab. The abstract style makes it challenging, but never is there a false emotion or insight beneath the jumpy sentences. After all, the guy is withdrawing from booze and suffering a hell of a lot. Tragic to read and to know that, despite Berryman's sensitive genius, his non-destructive side wrestled and lost. Great characterizations. Excellent final essay by Saul Bellow says a lot about the man, too.
March 27, 2017
Thought I would get more insights into one of my favorite poets and writers; instead I felt like I was intruding onto the man's diaries in his final months. With occasional flashes of his poetic brilliance and diction (whihc unfortunately are a little irritating in prose form), this manuscript is still very much in progress and shows signs of what it could've been. Unfortunately for us it seems like Berryman's working draft of this was more orientated toward the author working out his own inner demons in Recovery rather than merging his poetic and prose voices.
July 12, 2008
Berryman's what I gather autobiographical account of an alcohol treatment center in the 60's. It is a really beautiful look inside the thought processes and struggles of a human in recovery for drug abuse, with Berryman's wit and candor and brilliant portraits of those around him, a stronger picture of the writer emerges. An interesting insight into treatment protocol and AA foundations that continue in rehabilitation centers today. One gets the impression that we're all the same batch of fucked up addicts, over and over.
February 25, 2008
Really, really depressing but an interesting journey into the mind of an equally brilliant and destructive individual. Kind of the real life version of Leaving Las Vegas - but in the 50's, with a poet instead of a screenwriter, and a wife and child instead of a hooker.
April 15, 2012
Heavy. Dastardly heavy. Not at all polished or as full of wit and charm as his other memoir/fictions. I suppose that speaks to it's unfinished nature. Still there is much to admire and puzzle over. I'm not sure I could handle reading it again, this one time through almost killed me.
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March 10, 2015Haven't read the actual book yet, but Levine's introduction is pornography. I refuse to explain.
September 13, 2021
Those of you who know about poetry will know Berryman was a highly esteemed poet; since I don’t know anything about poetry I barely recognized his name. This unfinished “novel” was published a year after the author committed suicide. I use quotation marks because the book is really a thinly disguised diary from Berryman’s (last?) stay at a clinic; there’s little in terms of structure or development to really mark it as a novel. It does have this funny joke: “Do you know about the two drunks who went to the film of The Lost Weekend. Came staggering out. ‘My God I’ll never take another drink,’ said the first. ‘My God I’ll never go to another movie’ [said the other].”
September 30, 2021
Long and laborious for me. As someone who is in recovery and attended rehab, knowing fully the privilege that was bestowed upon me by doing so, I found this book rather arrogant, unrelating, whilst simultaneously wallowing in self-pity. But maybe that because I have the power of hindsight when it comes to the personal life of Berryman. I found the poetic notion of the book to be tiresome with an air of uncertainty of the writing style Berryman was actually trying to achieve in writing a novel.
January 27, 2023
“-well, he could afford it, except physically mentally morally and spiritually.”
“This dream was supposed to be a picture of my true life; but all it is is a picture of my illness and delusions.”
Oooff, Berryman.
“This dream was supposed to be a picture of my true life; but all it is is a picture of my illness and delusions.”
Oooff, Berryman.
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December 3, 2025___________________________________
FROM BOOK: Viaggio a Echo Spring. Storie di scrittori e alcolismo (Olivia Laing)
FROM BOOK: Viaggio a Echo Spring. Storie di scrittori e alcolismo (Olivia Laing)
August 11, 2019
The grace and intimacy of this fragmentary novel may just be enough to make even non-Berrymaniacs look past its rough and incomplete state.
September 19, 2024
A lot of poignant truths in this unfinished manuscript. Knowing the author leapt to his death before inking the last words definitely affected my reading. Still a good, vibrant book.
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November 15, 2024Couldn't do it.
August 2, 2010
The intro by Levine is spectacular. The book itself has amazing moments, but there are others where the narrative gets very caught up on itself, w/itself: the actuality of events takes a back burner to Berryman's experimentations with narrative/narrator's clarity mixing with the brain of the protagonist.
October 18, 2019
I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t. It’s a very rough draft of an incomplete novel dealing with alcoholism and recovery. Much of it seems as if the author has transcribed a jumble of mental notes interspersed with character dialogue in what was certainly the early stage of writing. Promising but undeveloped and tragically unfinished.
September 3, 2013
Even unfinished, one of the best books about 12-step drug addiction treatment. I don't think Infinite Jest would have been possible without it. It is a smaller in scope, but also more honest and unvarnished.
April 23, 2011
Good as a supplement to his biography... He hardly veils the autobiographical nature of the novel. As fiction, it was quite below average... But I like anything Berryman, so of course it gained a star or two merely because it bears his name.
September 12, 2012
I genuinely love this poet's verse, but however "true" and heartfelt this attempt to share his recovery experience, it is finally unreadable, at least by me.
August 21, 2018
Harrowing.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews