"Just give me one more day, Monk says, and Early Sobrieties is such a wise and piercing book that we believe him."
Charlie Lee, The New York Times Book Review
"Michael Deagler is the real deal."
Percival Everett, 2023 Windham Campbell Prize recipient and author of Dr. No
Dont worry about what Dennis Monk did when he was drinking. Hes sober now, ready to rejoin the world of leases and paychecks, reciprocal friendships and healthy romancesif only the world would agree to take him back. When his working-stiff parents kick him out of their suburban home, mere months into his frangible sobriety, the 26-year-old spends his first dry summer couch surfing through South Philadelphia, struggling to find a place for himself in the throng of adulthood.
Monks haphazard pilgrimage leads him through a city in flux: growing, gentrifying, haunted by its history and its unrealized potential. Everyone he knew from college seems to be doing better than himand most of them arent even doing that well. His run-ins with former classmates, estranged drinking buddies, and prospective lovers challenge his version of events past and present, revealing that recovery is not the happy ending hed expected, only a fraught next chapter.
Like a sober, millennial Jesus Son, Michael Deaglers debut novel is the poignant confession of a recovering addict adrift in the fragmenting landscape of Americas middle class. Shot through with humor, hubris, and hard-earned insight, Early Sobrieties charts the limbos that exist between our better and worst selves, offering a portrait of a stifled generation collectively slouching towards grace.