21

This riveting tale of Alice Carroll -- a drug-addled, bipolar wreck of a narrator -- combines poetic prose against a nightmarish backdrop of drugs, lies, and madness. This nonfiction novella opens with a rather ordinary scene of Carroll's 21st birthday and rapidly progresses throughout the months of the year into a story colored with excessive drug use, careless decision-making, exorbitant lying, and the drama chaos that ensues from the combinations of such during any social interactions with friends, family, and foe. This well-written memoir is a work of art that generates writing styles from a variety of authors, often reminiscent of David Foster Wallace, through the unique utilization of footnotes, as well as Jean Paul Sartre, with diversions into the realms of existentialism, and William S. Burroughs, with references to habitual drug use as "The Routine" and undertones of the junk equation. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the junkie subculture, creative nonfiction writing, or simply an individual who can appreciate a finely written piece of prose. A must-have for the bookshelves of a diverse batch of readers, "~21~: Real True Shit" is sure to keep the pages turning with surprise twists of fate through and through until one reach the rather bitter end.