My Diary of The Adderall Diaries

Stephen Elliott is allowing people to read his new book, The Adderall Diaries for free through his lending library idea. I was chosen to participate (because I emailed him my name) and am in the process of mailing the book to the next person on the list.




Monday, July 13:
The Adderall Diaries arrived at a bad time. I'm in the middle of taking a few summer classes and the book came the same day as Dave Eggers' new one and the cheap copy of Arkansas from the McSweeney's attic sale. But in the words of the great Optimus Prime, "fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing." So I got a week.

-I sign my name on the title page, but there's only Stephen Elliott's signature, though I received it from a woman in Florida. I leave a space below Stephen's name in her honor.

-He mentions the Golden State Warriors' crazy 2007 playoff run. I'm compelled, but that compulsion only lasts to page 14. I decide to use the book poster that was included in the package as a bookmark. Seems fitting.


Tuesday, July 14. Approx. 11:45 pm
-Kind of depressed. My printer just ran out of ink and paper. Decide to sit down with the ol' Adderall Diaries for a...uh, pick me up. I only read about 20 pages before I start to doze off (it's me, not the book).

Wednesday, July 15
-Discussed book about schizophrenia and killing (Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me)
-Read book about schizophrenia and meds (Lowboy by John Wray)
-Thought about book about drugs, killing but no schizophrenia so far. (The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott)

Thursday, July 16
-Received email from Stephen saying I could keep the book an extra day if needed. Read from about 25 to 96, around Chapter 6.
-Enjoyed the part about Catalogs2Go the most. Can't believe crap like that actually happened.

Friday, July 17
-Read about self-medication, hospitals, suicide, San Francisco and a childhood in Chicago. Then I read The Adderall Diaries.
-The latter was Pick-Up by Charles Willeford. Similarities=eerie. Though Pick-Up mirrors the places of Adderall, Lou Ford in The Killer Inside Me composes both Elliott and Hans Reiser, the subject of the true-crime portion in Adderall.

Saturday, July 18
-Don't remember anything. But I did go to Baskin-Robbins at some point.

Sunday, July 19
-Battle back and forth in my mind, but eventually decide to take the book to the beach. I'm scared I'm in violation of these rules. It's late afternoon, almost 5. Guys are there killing it on their skimboards on a good wave day. I do okay, but crash and burn a few times. With a small cut and sand in my pants, I now feel ready for Adderall. Finished the book on the beach. Excellent job on the three (four?) different stories: Elliott and his dad, Sean and his lies, Reiser and his true lies. Decide that this interview Elliott did with James Frey sums up the book nicely.