Very similar in style to A Million Little Pieces, Frey walks us through his life post-rehab and jail. He continues to write in his choppy repetitive style. I think he is trying to give a glimpse into the altered brain of a recovering addict with his style of writing. His love for Lilly still strong, ends in a devastating way. He maintains his freindship with Leonard, who although treats him like his son, is engaged in illegal activities. Leonard is this complex character. Being a recovering addict (met James in rehab), he does not drink alcohol or do drugs anymore. He eats healthy and exercises and appears to enjoy life. But along with his sidekick Snapper, you know they are often up to no good. But you will end up lovign Leonard because he does take care of James.
You get a glimpse of his past as he visits with friends from high school and college who are spread out all over the country. He goes out with them and he always says " i had a cola they had beer (or wine)", giving urgency to and emphasizing his daily struggle to fight temptation and to not slip back into addiction. You follow his romantic relationships, and how each one (of two in the book) is different and is part of his restoration. They do not work out but you get the feeling that he had to have those experiences to get where he is now.
James struggles to make an honest living, but for a recovering addict finding work is hard. So Leonard has him working for him, running "errands" across the U.S. Very good at his job, James enjoys not working all the time and the money he is making. But there is one run gone bad and he wants out. And he also decides at this point he wants to write. He leaves Chicago for L.A., where we meet more of his friends. He depicts the shallowness of L.A. and how "pretending" to be whatever you want to be makes you successful, which it does.
Leonard continues to spoil James with lavish dinners, gatherings, and whatever else he can. He starts to tell James things with not be this way for long and he wants to leave the criminal life. He never gives a reason but you get the sense that there are going to be major changes, but not sure if that is a good or bad thing. But Leonard has a dark secret, and has to leave because of it. You can feel James' sadness. They have become true friends. James is grateful for all he has done and Leonard is grateful to have James as a "son." But it is time to say goodbye and even though James does not want to, he knows he has to. The end is the most emotional part of the book. The main theme is really the title of this book. This whole time, him and Leonard have been friends. Even when James decided Leornard’s line of work was not something he wanted to be involved in, he did not cut him off. Leonard wanted the best for James and knew that his “occupation” was not good for James and let him go. But he was still there to help him.
The sad ending not only closes the book ,but closes a memorable chapter in James' life. Reading the first book was helpful for some parts of the book, but not essential.
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