Review: Chasing a Flawed Sun by Daniel McGhee

In Chasing a Flawed Sun, author Daniel McGhee courageously exposes his experiences with addiction from his younger years in raw detail. Anyone who has ever felt addiction touch their lives, either directly or indirectly, will find comfort and understanding in this addiction memoir, which is in turns beautiful and brutal.

Daniel McGhee was what most would consider an average kid, from a suburban background on the East Coast, where most of his immediate needs were taken care of, at least those that are most easily measurable. However, as his story unfolds, and he begins to lose his footing on the slippery slope of an illicit life, it becomes clear how quickly things can spin out of control. As one mistake leads to another, Daniel is forced to make impossible decisions, wrestling with an overwhelming need, battling his own mind on a daily basis as it longs for security.

There are many other memoirs that recount the repetitive nature of drug addiction, replete with laundry lists of personal offenses one committed in the past, but this book has a visceral edge that never feels rehearsed. McGhee doesn’t glorify any part of the life he led, but simply tells his story with terse, savage honesty. By telling his whole story, highlighting both the highs and the lows, readers have a chance to understand the author as a person, rather than a statistic or some distant drug-addled stereotype.

Before one thinks this is just another addiction memoir, this reviewer has rarely read something so naked and unabashed on a controversial subject, and the book is profoundly insightful for someone who has felt the sting of addiction. It is a difficult subject to write about, but McGhee has done a great service in writing this book. He strips away the facade from many stigmatized aspects of addiction, including rehabilitation, incarceration, and life on the street, in a way that is both essential and wholly unique. Whether you have been an addict, lived with one, cared for one, or considered the use of hard drugs to numb some corner of your mind, this book is an invaluable read.

On a technical level, the language is realistic and arduous, lacking much opportunity or cause for flowery prose or overly descriptive passages. Given the heaviness of the subject, this can sometimes make the book a challenge, something to be read in smaller chunks, but the authenticity and declarative nature of the prose is also undeniably compelling. The occasional grammatical stumbles and errors could be cleaned up with a final superficial proofread, and some anecdotal (and repetitive) elements do stretch on at times, but the flow and pace of McGhee’s story is generally consistent.

Overall, the balance between storytelling and reflection is impressive, giving readers something to think about and mull over in every chapter, yet still drive them to keep going. Not only has Daniel McGhee survived hell and lived to tell the tale, but his words are an inspiration and can act as a guide for people still traversing that dark path, in a memoir that is at once merciless and uplifting.