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“I will read whatever Domenica Ruta writes.”
—Amy Bloom

“Freakishly brilliant, brilliantly freakish, this is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. ”
—Gary Shteyngart

“Unflinching in its regard, forgiving in its humor, With or Without You is that rare thing, a story you think you know transformed into one you have to read to the end.”
—Kathryn Harrison

Domenica Ruta grew up in Danvers, Massachusetts, in a ramshackle, rundown, trash-filled house with her mother, a drug dealer and user who raised Domenica on a steady diet of Oxycontin. Growing up, Domenica knew she didn’t fit in–she was far smarter and worse dressed than everyone else she knew, and she clearly had the most flamboyant mother of anyone in town–but she found solace in writing and reading. As she grew older, though, and as her mother’s behavior grew increasingly outrageous and her home life increasingly untenable, Domenica fled Danvers only to become ensared by the demons of addiction. A thoroughly textured and masterfully written book, layered with wildly colorful characters, a biting sense of humor, and penetrating, deeply sympathetic insights, With or Without You finally ends with Domenica’s increasing awareness that she must leave the life she grew up with in order to survive.

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