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 enlarge | Author: David Carr
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $12.92
You Save: $13.08 (50%)
New (52) Used (17) Collectible (1) from $11.78
Rating:  148 reviews
Sales Rank: 9343
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416541527
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.860092
EAN: 9781416541523
ASIN: 1416541527
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Ah, the Eighties... January 1, 2009
Reading this book was a quasi-stroll down memory lane in some ways. I bartended through the early eighties and met many David Carrs during that time. His memories are a lot like many of ours, skewed to fit our own warped perception of the past. The steps he took to find out the truth were fearless. Who would like to sit down with every person they met while partying and addicted? Hearing how you affected them and their own memories of what you thought was the past must be painful. Carr does tend to go on and on a bit about his partying days and the book could have been a tad shorter. I've passed it on to many friends who (hopefully) remember their pasts a little better than he did.
 Honest but Harrowing December 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is an exceptionally gripping read that grabs the reader by the collar and doesn't let go until the end. Some on Amazon have written that this book was too long, but not if you loved it like me - I read it start to finish in about 1 day. Whether one is sober, getting sober or just wants to read a really well-written story about one Man's relationship with cocaine and booze then this book takes the prize. It is the book that Jim Frey's "Million Little Pieces" attempted to be except that this book resonates honesty at every turn. I highly recommend this book!
Hard to put down - a modern, literary Rashamon? December 27, 2008
First off you won't necessarily like or admire the author - but I certainly respect what he tries to do here - give a undoctored account of a specific episode in his life.
In the situation he tries to reconstruct, he has a drug induced and alcohol fueled falling out with one of his best friends where his friend resorts to pulling a gun on him - or does he? Was it the drugs or was the author simply such a selfish and self absorbed jerk that he pushed every situation past the logical conclusion?
Of course if it was simply examining that one episode it would be a short book. Instead he takes us in to look at many aspects of his life where he either didn't see things as they were or chose to ignore them. In many instances we see that the people in his life saw things very differently.
Even if you're not some coked out boozing a**hole, this book does get you to wonder how we see ourselves and how others see things. I found the book hard to put down - for at least the first half. Bogs down a little but overall it made me think - and for that I give it five stars.
A brutally honest look at a dark past December 26, 2008
David Carr has been through his own personal hell and, he might say miraculously, survived to write about it. "Night of the Gun" is part autobiography, part mea culpa and Carr doesn't shy away from illuminating some of the darkest days of his life in this book.
If you want a clean, happy story, you won't find it here. This is a dark story about a guy who was a perfect example of a life gone bad. Carr is the first to admit that he was not a nice guy. He's honest about addiction and the bad things he did to other people -- some of which he remembered, some of which he learned from others and police reports detailing his sins. His unique perspectives give insight into the whys and hows of addiction for those of us fortunate to never have experienced it. He's witty, sarcastic, funny, and brutally honest and has a unique way of explaining his world to the reader.
This is an interesting book for so many reasons. I was intrigued by the idea of Carr using reporting skills to piece together his past in some coherent way to better understand where he has been and how he has gotten where he is now. The twists and turns (and some famous names friends) of his life make for a fascinating story of addiction, failure, survival, and the long slow road to recovery and redemption.
 Finding the truth takes a lot of work... December 24, 2008
David Carr promises his readers the unvarnished truth about his multiple addictions and how they affected his life and his family. He digs, delves, dredges, and burrows until he presents facts or as close to it as he can get. After all our memories are subjective. They can be unreliable and even false.
I really thought I would love this book. Personally I love a journalistic approach to anything...please, just give me the facts and let me make up my own mind about something. I love a chance to study human nature as well- people fascinate me. I thought I would dig in here and find myself riveted by David Carr's memoir. He promises to get to the bottom of his wretched life while holding nothing back. So why was I bored? Why did I put this book down again and again?
David Carr is a decent writer who is perhaps a little oversold on his own greatness. He has a unique story to tell full of sordid details of hitting rock bottom over and over. He also comes off as holier than thou as in...wow, you think that's bad? Here...let me tell you something worse. After I while I really didn't care that much- ho hum. The book is too long, too repetitive, too irritating. The terrible things we do as human beings becomes less so and yes - run of the mill - with repetition.
In the end I would say that this book started with a great premise but did not end up engaging me as a reader. I did learn that a memoir by a self serving crack addict can be humdrum and curiously flat.
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