Born with a Toaster in the Bathroom

About the Memoir

With unflinching honesty and no sugar-coating, David recounts his early years, where innocence was stolen far too soon. He takes readers deep into his reality—sexual and physical abuse, the suffocating weight of suicidal thoughts, the numb escape of drugs and alcohol, and a series of toxic relationships. Yet this memoir is not only about suffering—it is about endurance, survival, and the flickers of hope that persisted.

David explores the crushing expectation to find healing through God, even when answers never arrived. He writes about growing up poor, emotionally adrift, and desperate for any truth that might make sense of the pain. Behind the mask he wore for the world—bravado, humor, and rebellion—was a boy quietly breaking, one page at a time.

Writing became his refuge. Born with a Toaster in the Bathroom doesn’t just tell a story—it gives his pain a voice. Select poems from his earliest years are included, verses that spoke when no one else would listen. More than a memoir, this book is a call to anyone who has ever felt like they were drowning in silence.

Themes and Style

• Confronting trauma: Childhood abuse, addiction, and the struggle for survival.

• Searching for meaning: Religious expectation, poverty, and the desire for emotional connection.

• Human resilience: Humor, rebellion, and writing as tools for processing pain.

• Poetry as refuge: Early poems interwoven to give voice to unspoken emotions.

Kitzmiller’s style is deeply personal and emotionally direct. The narrative blends memoir and poetic reflection, drawing readers into a world where pain, humor, and small victories coexist in stark contrast.

Related Works

Explore the rest of the Dealing with the Toaster series, including A Step Away from Bathing with a Toaster and the companion poetry collections Poems from the Toaster, for a full picture of David Kitzmiller’s creative and emotional journey. 

Purchase This Memoir

You can purchase A Step Away from Bathing with a Toaster through major retailers:

Praise for Born with a Toaster in the Bathroom

“Kitzmiller's debut delivers a powerful origin story without theatrics. This is memoir stripped to its bones—painful, precise, and quietly triumphant.” — Barnes & Noble Editorial Review

“Unflinching and unfiltered—this book is a gut-wrenching look at trauma and survival. The interspersed poems are small miracles of truth.” — Ink & Ash Reviews, Maya Patel

“A harrowing memoir that refuses to look away—David Kitzmiller bares his scars and invites you into the darkest parts of his youth, and somehow leaves you with hope.” — The Literary Survivalist Journal, Rafael Torres

“A powerful origin story—painful, precise, and ultimately quietly triumphant.” — Midwest Memoir Review, Eleanor Shaw