Delirium Vitae

An international journey of self-discovery that leads back home.

David LeBrun’s memoir Delirium Vitae is harrowing yet mesmerizing. In the spirit of author Cheryl Strayed, who disconnects from life and goes on a 94-day, 1100-mile hike fuelled by grief, alcohol, and heroin, David LeBrun details his journey as a young man addicted to wanderlust and drugs.

At the age of seventeen, after witnessing cancer devour his father, LeBrun knew that he didn’t want to live an ordinary life or end up like his dad, who had lost any urge to create after working twenty hard years in a gold mine. And so, by the time he was twenty-four and a university dropout, LeBrun had worked seventeen jobs, all the while chasing his dream to write Delirium Vitae.

LeBrun manifests the definitions of delirium and vitae to the nth degree as he invites readers along on his psychedelic trips and marijuana and cough syrup highs—all of which made LeBrun worry he was having a stroke, a partial seizure, and ongoing mental and emotional psychosis.

As he travels through Central America and Mexico, accruing friendships, sexual attractions, betrayals, and abandonments, LeBrun immerses readers into scenes that pulsate with the liveliness and fray of everyday street life. Spanish phrases and delightful metaphors such as “she could ignore me the way a monk can ignore a fly” add authenticity to LeBrun’s adventures, which are raw, rambunctious, and at times rhapsodic.

Too, LeBrun’s descriptions of the people he meets are lively and gorgeous, especially in Costa Rica, which surprises him with its American food chains, modern buildings, and clean-shaven parks. These vibrant accounts bring much-needed relief to the tumultuous and often dangerous real-life situations in Delirium Vitae.

Honest and vulnerable, LeBrun never softens his story for readers. However, at times I wished he would have taken a much-needed break from destroying himself: His vicious cycle of destruction initiated frequent visits to doctors for various medical concerns, all of which heightened his grief and worried readers.

But as humans often do in chaotic times, LeBrun uncovers the depths of his resilience and mettle. Like Strayed, who finally found the peace and grace to live in her own skin, LeBrun accepts his father’s passing, finding both relief and a true sense of self when he returns home. And this time around, he is a caring advocate and participant in his dying mother’s healthcare, rather than an unwilling bystander as he was for his father. Fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road will enjoy another gripping memoir of self-discovery with LeBrun’s Delirium Vitae.

—CANREADS BOOK REVIEW

Published by Tortoise Books

Purchase Delirium Vitae at Pulp Books

www.davidlebrun.ca