ABOUT
Joshua Mohr is the author of the memoirs “Model Citizen” (2021) and "Sirens", as well as five novels including "Damascus", which The New York Times called "Beat-poet cool." He’s also written "Fight Song" and "Some Things that Meant the World to Me," one of O Magazine’s Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, as well as "Termite Parade," an Editors’ Choice in The New York Times. His novel "All This Life" won the Northern California Book Award. He is the founder of Decant Editorial.
Listen to Josh read an excerpt from Model Citizen over at Poets & Writers.
MODEL CITIZEN
THE NEWEST MEMOIR BY JOSHUA MOHR
PRAISE FOR Model Citizen
“If MODEL CITIZEN were a song, it might be a ballad by Nick Cave, a piece of drama inviting readers to sympathize with the devil on his shoulder, maybe even sit in its place.”
—LA Times Book Review
“Model Citizen wrecked me and then, somehow, put me back together. San Francisco was lucky to have a chronicler this generous.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“A REDEMPTION STORY THAT’S EASY TO ROOT FOR.”
—The New York Times Book Review
"Unflinching . . . It’s [the] haunting threat of a foreshortened life that sets this work apart from traditional addiction memoirs. Mohr’s raw account is equally shocking and moving."
—Publishers Weekly
“RELENTLESSLY HONEST, HILARIOUS, GUT-WRENCHINGLY SAD, MODEL CITIZEN IS THE OPPOSITE OF A PULL-YOURSELF-UP-BY-YOUR-BOOTSTRAPS MEMOIR, AND ALL THE MORE HOPEFUL (AND PROFOUND) FOR IT.”
—PAM HOUSTON, AUTHOR OF DEEP CREEK: FINDING HOPE IN THE HIGH COUNTRY
“No one anywhere writes into the gap between grit and grace better than Joshua Mohr. Model Citizen dives deep into the crucible of addiction and recovery and then breathes life back into us all. How thrilling to encounter a story in which I can feel both named as well as loved alongside a narrator who I respect and admire for diving down into the depths and bringing something back for the rest of us. A ride or die book. This book changed my life.”
—Lidia Yuknavitch, Author of Verge
“A POTENT MIX OF REGRET & RESILIENCE.”
—BOOKLIST
“Joshua Mohr’s new memoir, Model Citizen, is not for the faint of heart, but there’s something profoundly beautiful and deeply humanizing about it, too. The book forces us to reconcile the conflicting truths of our mortal existence - that we are alone in a world that doesn’t care about us even a little, even as we’re surrounded by and connected to other solitary souls who might just save us if we let them. There’s terror here, but comfort, as well.”
—Richard Russo, Author of Chances Are