In the Pink: A memoir by Nicholas Garnett is set in the ’90s and it captures the author’s unbridled, somewhat disturbing, yet hilarious adventure into the gay party scene. Nicholas has just lost another job in the corporate world and is struggling to make ends meet, delivering roses and playing drums in a wedding band. Everything changes when he meets Rachael, a stunning woman who introduces him to her circle of gay friends, the same who run the gay circuit party. He gets married to Rachael, and the couple quickly becomes absorbed into the gay party world. With Rachel’s addiction spiraling out of control and his gay friends’ unhinged self-destructive habits holding sway, Nick must decide to follow the tide down a dark path or save himself. Has he come too far to reclaim his life?

While this is a memoir, it reads like well-crafted fiction. You’ll have to pause and take a deep breath and say aloud: “Man, is this for real!?” And this, you’ll do many times as you follow the story and the fascinating characters. The author captures the gay world with unusual brilliance, writing in prose that is gorgeous and arresting and displaying an uncanny exploration of character. Nick has had a hilarious, disconcerting, and shocking experience and while it will have readers engaged as they follow him and his friends, the writing is wonderful; Nick writes with moving limpidity, capturing raw emotions with a unique flair and infusing the characters with life and humanity. It is frank, deeply moving, and as evocative as it can get, a story that explores addiction and relationships from a fresh perspective. Nicholas Garnett lifts the curtain to reveal the brokenness within a community of gay friends, allowing readers to understand the effects of addiction and self-destructive behaviors. In the Pink: A memoir is a masterpiece of a memoir.