Another Bullshit Night In Suck City (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
tNick Flynn’s Another Bullshit Night in Suck City tells the story of himself as a confused young adult who struggles to avoid following his long lost father’s footsteps to homelessness and misery. The book is set at Situate, Massachusetts, also known as “Suck City”, to the city of Boston around the time of 1960’s to 1990’s, when Nick’s father, Jonathan Flynn, was a young adult to present time when Nick, himself, is a young adult. Trying his best to avoid becoming the “town’s drunk” and failure just like his father was, Nick eventually accepted the fact that his fate of ending up like his father was inevitable after a series of events and the parallelism between him and his father’s lives. Nick reflects on all the stories he had heard about his father, an inconsiderate bigot who gives himself too much credibility for his writing and criminal deeds, and became even more agitated and afraid of his “destined future”. This book addresses the realistic hardships of individuals of their family relationships, which can essentially shape the person they become and how their future will unveil. tThe chapter that stood out to me the most was “Two Hundred Years Ago”, which plays a significant role in this book by foreshadowing how Nick Flynn will eventually become a broke drunkard like his father and also exemplifies the main point of this whole memoir. In this chapter, Nick indicated that if the setting of his book was changed to two hundred years ago, his father’s reputation would become a huge aspect to his own life due to the fact that the people around him will view him the same way like they view his father. Nick said, “ They would say to themselves, or to whomever they were with, ”It’s his father, you know, the crazy one, the drunk,” and they couldn’t help but wonder what part of his madness had passed on to you,” suggesting that personality traits can be passed on to descendants as if it were genes. It was because of this chapter that I began to feel sympathetic towards Nick Flynn, as I start to understand how difficult it must have been to have an alcoholic as a father who had abandoned you while you were young. tI’ve developed an emotional connection with this intriguing book as the years and years of Nick’s life pass by as I turn page after page, seeing how Nick grew and matured as his anger and confusion built on when he learns more and more about how terrible of a man his father was. Because of Nick’s impassiveness while telling such a depressing story, I felt like I experienced his feelings of anguish and frustration for him without him describing it. Looking through the eyes of Nick Flynn, I felt his shock when his mother committed suicide while he was having fun at college, his annoyance of Jonathan Flynn’s conceited attitude and how irrelevant and uncivilized he is, and his torment of what seems to be endless internal conflicts.tThere were numerous things that I have learned from this nonfiction book such as how a homeless shelter operates to the difficulties of finding a job that barely makes enough money for a poor living. Regarding to life morals, from this book, I've grasped the deeper outlook on family, irony, and frustration. It seems to me that no matter how horrible or irritating family may be, everything will always fall back together which is depicted by how Nick’s mother and brother did care for him throughout all the “bullshit” they have been through and the connection between Nick and his father does, indeed, exist no matter how many years they have spent apart. The irony of it all is how much Nick tried to avoid his father, only to coincidentally meet him as a resident of a homeless shelter where he works. It amazes me how Nick can cope with all the issues that would drive him insane, yet he hardly self-pities himself and keeps moving forward.tUltimately, the story of Nick Flynn and Jonathan Flynn is a story of overcoming their difficult relationship, struggling through harsh times with poverty and alcohol, and accepting each other’s past and moving on. It all adds up to a tale of teenage rebellion, family hardships, and arrogance. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City tells us that story very well, reminding us that each and every individual has traveled down the wrong path at least once in their life, only to realize that they screwed up and need to get back on track. tI highly recommend Another Bullshit Night In Suck City because it allows readers to gain a new perspective by living through Nick Flynn’s constant issues with his father, money, and his own self. Having to encounter ten different men your mother dated and married throughout your life without ever meeting your real biological father to almost bleeding to death due to drunk driving on a motorcycle to having your mother commit suicide to having everyone shame you because of your violent, uncooperative father who happens to be at an unwelcomed resident at a homeless shelter that you’re working at is just the gist of the experience I have had while reading through Nick’s memoir. I became more hooked as the story progresses with Nick’s struggles and the drug abuse, alcoholism, and life-changing mistakes makes everything even more intense and fascinating. Not only is it interesting to read, but the story also reveals the lessons learned along the way, one of them being how Nick eventually accepted Jonathan Flynn for who he is, despite his arrogance and criminal record. In addition, I think this book would be a great start for readers who usually favor novels in the fiction genre and are hesitant to try nonfiction books. Although this book may be non-fiction, the style is very much similar to that of young adult fiction so it is fairly easy to comprehend, and it is even better knowing that such a tale happened in real life!
The verdict: Strong 3-3.5 stars.I saw the movie first (Being Flynn) before even knowing it was based on a book. The movie was fair, yet I'm glad that the book is very different. Whereas the movie focuses nearly entirely on Nick's relationship with his father once dad shows up at the homeless shelter, that is only a small part of the book. In that sense, the structure of the book is akin to Moby-Dick. "In Moby-Dick, the eponymous whale doesn't appear until the last fifty pages. The story of the whale appears earlier, but the actual whale only breaks the surface for a moment at ht end, just long enough to pull Ahab under. The whole book is about the whale that isn't there" (345). As the quotation marks indicate, that isn't my clever interpretation; it's the author's own in his final "Q+A" section at the end.The chapters are very short and the writing borders on poetic, which makes sense since Nick did his graduate work in poetry (and has published poetry). All in all it's an interesting story that is well told.I really wanted to say more good things about it since I "liked" and almost "really liked it," but right now I just can't find the words. Instead, I'll jump to a few things that bothered me, even if only ever-so-slightly. I actually think this complaint is going to sound stupid, but here goes. This is a memoir, right? (Yes.) While Nick does talk about his childhood to adulthood, every single aspect of every moment relates to his father. Yes, I get it, his dad is his absent white whale and his biggest fear seems to be that "[he/Nick] would become him, the line between [them] would blur" (11). In that sense, this becomes almost more a biography of his dad than an autobiography. And all that's still fine--I don't care what genre the book falls into--and Nick even basically acknowledges as much at the end. And of course in a memoir the author's going to have to be selective with what he includes. And the fact that Nick arranged those selections around the theme of the absent/drunken/homeless father really works well! Still, there are some things that he leaves out that just irked me, again, ever-so-slighlty. For example, how did he actually get to be where he is? From his own description, he was a complete waste as a teenager (petty crimes and stoned all the time), so how did he get into Amherst? (He claims that not only did he not remember applying, but that he was shocked to be in the top 10% of his class.) Maybe I'm naive about the cost of flying to and living in (even if out of a backpack) Europe, but how does he have the money to suddenly up and leave? Just like deciding to go back to college and then to get a graduate degree in poetry is mentioned in one throw-away line, we get "After considerable struggle I managed to get the boat on land, then I flew to Amsterdam to meet Emily, who'd been traveling Europe for a couple months already" (180). Hell, if I ever write a memoir, my European travels will be big events in my life, as will the decision and work to earn advanced degrees. But this isn't my memoir--and I think that is exactly where the problem lies. I can't relate to being able to (ie: having the courage to) drop everything and fly to Europe on a whim. I can't relate to suddenly publishing a book. Maybe it's jealousy--I chose to do things the "right" way: good grades, good college, advanced degree, good job, good pension--and I haven't accomplished my ultimate dream of publishing a novel. Nick Flynn portrays himself as nothing but a waste, yet here is his novel. Of course, I haven't devoted the time (not that I have the skill) to actually being disciplined enough to sit down and write the great American novel. I'm not sure that his adding a bunch of chapters about his discipline and tenacity during the writing process would make the book any better, for it would almost certainly make it worse. Maybe then I wouldn't be ever-so-slightly bothered/jealous, though.A Favorite Quotation: "There are many ways to drown, only the most obvious wave their arms when they're going under" (327).
What do You think about Another Bullshit Night In Suck City (2005)?
The credit for this book’s colorful title goes to Nick Flynn’s dad, the main protagonist in his memoir of coming to know himself through a chance reunion with his father. The story initially focuses on the early parallels between young Flynn and his estranged, alcoholic father. The author then brings us to a Boston homeless shelter where he held a minimum-wage job for 5 years after living alone on a houseboat near Boston Harbor. Father and son’s lives fatefully intersect in the shelter when his dad becomes a regular, but highly-volatile, unwelcome guest. As a Boston native, I appreciated Flynn’s wry surveying of the City during his nightly voyages in the homeless shelter van. He was usually successful rounding up the deinstitutionalized and others made homeless by chance or by choice; however, he was often unable to corral his own father, that is, when he didn’t purposely avoid his usual haunts. Flynn’s dad burned all personal and professional bridges long before he wound up on the streets, and it seems all he has left is his ego, buttressed by grandiose notions about his skill as a writer. He talks ad nauseam (to the reader’s amusement) about his great semi-autobiographical novel that has gone unrecognized (this tome may or may not have ever been completed). As proof someone was interested in this work, he frames “personal” notes (form rejection letters) he received from publishing houses. Flynn is first a poet, and you see his skill as he deftly crafts lyrical passages about their shared mental illness and sometimes self-destructive streak of eschewing convention—and help when needed. For good or bad, they are both self-made men who have a talent for storytelling. You get the sense that Nick’s book serves to tell his own story, but also that of Flynn Sr., who never had the discipline or courage to get it down himself.
—cathy
Nick Flynn's unflinching and unsentimental account of his largely absent and totally pathetic father and of his own work in a Boston homeless shelter raises many questions. Chief among these, at least to this reader, is what we owe, if anything, to another human being with whom we happen to have a direct genetic relationship--in this case, a father? I confess to going back and forth between two poles as I read Flynn's disturbing memoir. At one pole, a voice was saying, "He's your Dad, dammit. Try a bit harder to help the guy." At the other pole an equally strong voice countered, "The guy is a delusional jerk--stay as far away as you can." In the end, I think, Flynn handled the situation about as well as he could, after overcoming, or at least confronting, his own terrible problems with alcohol and drugs. This is a powerful book, and Flynn writes with great skill. At times, however, I did feel that his writing became just a bit too clever--as in the chapter "Santa Leer," to give one example.
—Stephen Durrant
I tend to shy away from memoirs. Books like A Million Little Pieces, Angel At The Fence, and Love & Consequences, all masterworks of prevarication, have made me suspicious, admittedly unfairly, of the genre as a whole. Thankfully, Nick Flynn's memoir, Another Bullshit Night In Suck City, is a fine example of what a memoir ought to be: introspective, well written, occasionally humorous, and honest. Flynn's memoir is a pragmatic, and yet powerfully emotional, examination of his relationship with his estranged father, a man of questionable veracity, slowly destroying himself through alcoholism. Flynn's criticisms of his father are unflinchingly straightforward, but he does not spare himself from his clearheaded and insightful scrutiny; the demons of both men are shown with heart breaking clarity through Flynn's beautiful, experimental prose. And while some of the literary styles Flynn incorporates into his narrative are not entirely successful (the segment called "santa lear" comes to mind) the book easily overcomes whatever flaws it may have, leaving us with a tragic, but ultimately redemptive tale of homelessness, drug addiction, alcoholism, compassion and hope.
—Allen B. Lloyd
