This is a memoir unlike any other I’ve read before. Sprinkled between writing in the present, are memories of his childhood, his adult past, his blunders, his lovers, his losses, his gains. The fact is, this book begins with one very serious stroke, and ends with another. Mohr is on borrowed time, health wise and yet it’s not so easy to simply live in the present alongside his demons, trying to be the best husband and father he can be without breaking his sobriety or more than likely dropping dead from his last stroke.
Knowing the stakes, as they’re presented from the first page, I felt as if something or someone was pressing against my chest so that I had to breath slowly to get through all the pain that Mohr writes about, knowing how much pain he’s suffered, and how difficult it is to simply remain rooted to the ground without sinking into it. A truly raw, well crafted book that meanders in and out of the present so as to show the reader what it is to live in his body and mind, and still choose to remain standing, looking forward to the next sunrise, even if the odds are against him seeing it. This is not the end, yet if this book were his last - I think, if I were him, I’d be proud to have let it all hang out, finally, to show how hard it really is not to give up on living.

Thanks to Goodreads and to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the copy. I intend to buy more than a few to gift out.

A big thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for giving me an advanced reader copy of “Model Citizen” written by Joshua Mohr in exchange for an honest review via @netgalley . This book is available now!

I am astounded at the vulnerability of Mohr and his story that he has put out for all to see via this memoir. Reading this book felt like I was grabbing at fiber glass: being pulled in by beauty of Mohr’s prose while feeling the stories he told tear me apart.

We jump around in the timeline of Mohr’s life in a way that I really enjoyed- while we are not moving linearly, the events that we move around to and from connect in one way or another and it all feels seamlessly done. This movement directly juxtapositions the war stories surrounding Mohr’s addiction with his “new life” as a father working daily to uphold sobriety for his wife and daughter.

It is raw. It hurts to read. It’s shocking and it doesn’t finish with closure tying up the loose ends that Mohr has shared with us… but that is why I highly recommend reading it. We are too used to expecting addicts to get better instantly, conveniently, and without any continued support from others. That is just not realistic, and this book highlights that, among many other aspects of life as an addict, and as the child or partner of an addict.

This book brings new perspective and jarring truths and you will fly through Mohr’s insanely wonderful writing. The entire time I was reading, I could not get over how smooth Mohr’s words flowed from the screen to my mind, feeling like an old friend with a familiar dry sense of humor that made the stories cut even deeper. Buy this book!!!

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A strange and quirky read which is quite divisive.
An OK read.

Raw real a look at the life of an addict at his desperate life choices.His daughter is the moments of joy in his life.He shares his medical emergency his addiction rebounds.Written in a style that kept me reading kept me interested.The authors life is not always easy but he is definitely interesting.#netgalley #fsg

"Model Citizen" by Joshua Mohr is a memoir about his path from drug addict and alcoholic to sober father and writer, and often times back to where he started. Mohr writes with a certain lightness about all the time spent ravaging his body from the inside out, which is different from the morose tone used by other authors of books about addiction. He owns up to his past actions, at least those he can remember, and sheds light on his daily struggle to remain sober to those who may not be familiar with the constant pulls of addiction. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it!

I'd never heard of this author before but the cover of this drew my attention, as did the synopsis: a portrait of a recovering addict, who, after finally achieving sobriety, has a stroke aged 35.

I'm glad I took a chance on this, as it's a highly readable memoir about Mohr's addiction and road to recovery. The sections on his relationship with his daughter were some of the best parts in my view and I found the book hard to put down for the first two thirds or so.

Where this book is let down slightly is the lack of distance the author has from his own story and from his own addiction. While his battle with sobriety has been a long one, it has happened relatively recently, meaning there wasn't quite as much introspection as I was hoping for.