Casting all timeliness aside, Brent Runyon’s 2004 memoir “The Burn Journals” is an excellent read for any young adult battling distress.

Anyone grappling with stress and a sense of inner-defeat can find some way to relate to Runyon’s thought process through his unique writing style.

Mirroring the scheme of “Girl Interrupted” and “Running with Scissors,” Runyon’s piece is an amazing example of individual misery and man’s ultimate renewal.

Runyon was 14-years-old when he attempted suicide by setting himself on fire.

“The Burn Journals” takes the reader from the moments leading to the incident and narrates the authors struggle during the episode and aftermath of his decisions.

He thrusts the reader into ambulance rides and carries them to the burn unit in a children’s hospital.

His devastating suicide attempt took away any normalcy Runyon desperately tried to hold on to at age 14 and sends the reading railing into scenes of painful burn care and excruciating skin-grating procedures.

Runyon also experienced first love and loss of love and friendship during his yearlong rehabilitation.

He was subject to intensive physical and occupational therapy.

But rather than focusing on the whys of his actions, Runyon addresses the direct challenge of survival, including detailed accounts of his day-to-day ordeals in the hospital and later in a rehabilitation center.

At the beginning of his recovery his thought processes are represented in a present tense. Gauging the duration of Runyon’s rehabilitation takes an understanding of his levels of discomfort during bandage removal and levels of pleasure while enjoying ice cream for the first time.

Then, Runyon thoughts nervously switch to future tense as he prepares to enter school again and particularly high school for the first time since the incident.

While the subject matter is somewhat dark, Runyon’s accounts display a celebration of life and gives the reader a unique perspective of survival of the fittest.

Runyon is a regular contributor to public radio’s This American Life.

He narrated an except from the memoir in 2002 on an episode of This American Life titled, “Didn’t ask to be born.”

“The Burn Journals” can also be found in the Mary Booth Library on Eastern Illinois University’s campus.