I Was a Fat Drunk Catholic School Insomniac by Jamie Iredell

200 pages
ISBN 978-1-892061-46-1

After two full-length collections of fiction that mixed his irreverent treatment of form and gritty real-life candor (The Book of Freaks, Prose. Poems. A Novel.), Jamie Iredell delivers an assured and honest collection of personal essays. I Was a Fat Drunk Catholic School Insomniac reveals a writer who takes on his (literal) highs and (existential) lows with the unembellished voice of an anthropologist. Erudite, funny, and fearless, Iredell dives into subjects like drugs, alcoholism, body image, racism, feminism, and religion, and shines a light on some of the darkest moments of life. The essays are personal, confessional, and ultimately full of hope.

“Jamie Iredell is one of the two or three best writers I know in this world. If you read him—you’ll say the same thing. If you don’t, that’s fine. Your grandchildren will say it one day.” —Scott McClanahan, author of Crapalachia