Rob Roberge

Recollections drift to the front of our minds at odd moments and never follow a linear timeline. Our memories meld together like loose bits of clouds that merge, then separate. In "Liar" Roberge captures the meandering, fitful way that we remember and admits often that his memories may or may not be the truth. If we cut the book into its sections and tried to order them sequentially, I'm sure we would discover conflicts and pieces that just don't fit, like a mismatched jigsaw puzzle that show more almost makes a picture.
But it doesn't matter. Roberge makes us comfortable with his movements back and forth in time, capturing the episodic way that we remember.

Likewise, his humor and insights make his brutal life of addiction and illness tolerable. Most books of this sort I would toss aside after a few pages, uncomfortable with being part of the pain (in the case of a good writer) or disgusted with the obvious ridiculousness of it (as in "A Million Little Pieces). But Roberge kept me enthralled and wanting to understand how a life of mental illness and addiction plays out when the person somehow manages to both survive and have the talent to write well about it, both against the odds. show less

This is a quick, quick read. Be prepared. The timeline jumps around a lot. But maybe that's the point. You can't keep the chronology straight so it's harder to keep Roberge's story straight. Hence, the title of the book. It's supposed to be a memoir. Is he lying or not? Reading Liar reminded me of those picture viewers: you slide in the disc, look through the viewer to see a particular scene. Advancing the disc allows you to see another scene. When trying to describe this toy (and book) to a show more friend he said, "oh. You mean like a peep show?" Yeah. Like a peep show. Roberge shows you just hints of a mentally ill/bipolar/suicidal, crazy drug addled, violent/kinky sex fueled life and then quickly closes the curtain. When the curtain reopens it's a completely different view; a little more is revealed...or not. It could be about the Titanic sinking or some other misconstrued moment in history. You never know what you are going to get. I am resisting the urge to make a timeline and "map" all of Roberge's life events just to see how his life has played out thus far. show less

This is bleak as all get out, relentlessly grim even when it is funny. Roberge brings us a panoply of fatally depressed people. The pages are filled with the heartbroken, wounded, and maimed. There are addicts, grifters, and intentional and unintentional murderers. His writing is visceral. I think when I reviewed his brilliant memoir, Liar, I said it had a punk-rock aesthetic. If I did not say that, I should have. In any event, that is even more evident in this collection. It is rougher show more around the edges than Liar. I am pretty sure Roberge was actively in addiction when he wrote this, and even if he was not, it reads like he was. This is messy and inconsistent. When Roberge hits his marks, which he does far more often than he misses them, this is mind-bendingly brilliant. There are subtle hints of Denis Johnson and Charles Bukowski, but the voice is still wholly original. Anyone looking for something completely different will find it here.

The standouts for me were: The Exterminator (a commentary on capitalism?); Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams (heartbreak, depression, and a feel-good encounter with Ketih Richards); Burn Ward (this gutted me, hope and compassion and pain and death); Beano's Deal (another comenary on capitalism, and also chimps); Whatever Happened to Bill Brody (an ex-child star, now desperate addict finds himself in a hell of a situation, and turns it into a worse one).

Progress notes for each story:

June 2, 2026 – page 20
17.86% "These very brief stories are truly warped. I know from reading his memoir that Roberge is fascinating, talented, and not quite right.

Working Backwards From the Worst Moment of My Life - The title is spot on. The world's strangest moral quandary.

The Exterminator manages to be fully funny and fully tragic in the space of a few pages. "Rat is pest of the month" is a line I feel like I am going to use again."

June 3, 2026 – page 36
32.14% "Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams - Physically painful. The quietest self-loathing imaginable.
Swiss Engineering - Less successful as a character study, but no less depressing as a whole. IT is a miracle Roberge stayed alive. Guessing he couldn't work up the energy."

June 4, 2026 – page 46
41.07% "Burn Ward-Maybe the best so far. A series of conversations between men in the burn ward. Roberge is definitely fixated on bodily ruin at what that does to the soul. This one is gutting, but also occasionally grimly funny until it is not.

Border Radio. The sins of our fathers. The value of a life. All of these are weird stories -- this very brief one about generational evil might be the weirdest."

June 4, 2026 – page 59
52.68% "Beano's Deal: The weirdest story in a weird collection. This is not a negative for me. Roberege kills it at weird. I think this is a critique of capitalism, but also the story of a very frustrated chimp.

Earthquake is the least of these. It thinks it is deep. Not so much.

Whatever Happened to Bill Brody" "Their cab driver is a woman whose teeth are going in every direction except the ones you'd expect from teeth."

A Headache from Barstow to Salt Lake: My least favorite of the stories. Yes, it is violent and bleak, but most of these are violent and bleak. It is gratuitous and absurd.

Do Not Concern Yourself is a strange revenge tale in which the world would actually be better if every person in the story were dead. Interesting theory. show less

Wow! This was a gripping book, dealing with issues of alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental illness in a stark, direct manner. No sugar-coating here. The author jumps back and forth in time, randomly. Normally, this would ruin the book for me, but once I realized he was trying to simulate the manic mind, I felt it added to the story. I would highly recommend this book, with the caveat that the reader is prepared for the depressing topics.