Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

Is this the best title ever or what? It appeals greatly to the black-clad, Smiths-listening, angst-ridden teenager I once was.
The book is by Nick Flynn. I read an excerpt in the New Yorker in July. Drunk guy ends up in rehab, becomes counselor to the homeless, meets up with his own alcoholic father. Dad claims he's still working on his masterpiece of a novel (yeah right). It showed what con artists addicts can be, as well as the creepy allure of alcohol. People in recovery often call it "cunning, baffling, powerful" -- what a powerful, compact description.
I've noticed a string of interesting-looking books dealing with alcoholism recently. Of course, one of my absolute favorite novels ever is David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. It's a doorstop of a novel, coming in at 1,088 pages. But it's so funny and hard and poignant; I just love it. One of the main characters is Don Gately, a recovering addict and half-way house counselor. Infinite Jest is set in the future, after an environmental cataclysm, when years are sponsored by corporations (i.e. The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, The Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad). Other major plot elements include a tennis academy for athletic prodigies and Canadian separatists in wheelchairs. But a substantial part of the novel aims at explaining the power and attraction of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. (If IJ sounds interesting to you, you might want to look at the excellent Wallace fan site, Howling Fantods.)
High up on my future reading list is Dry, by Augusten Burroughs, and My Name is Bill, by Susan Cheever. Burroughs wrote a harrowing and hilarious coming-of-age memoir, Running with Scissors, about life with his crazy mother and her seemingly equally crazy shrink. (Warning, some of it is quite disturbing.) His excellent web site, http://www.augusten.com/, is shut down for a re-design, darn it.
I have a copy of the Bill Wilson biography; from a cursory look-through, it appears highly readable. (Here's a review.) All hail readable biography!!! Just not enough of that in the world.