Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
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Book Reviews of Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Book Review: Augusten Burroughs Nails it!
Summary: 5 Stars
For about five pages Augesten Burroughs' life is seemingly ordianry and yet not.
You know there's something just "off" with his mom and her illusions of grandeur. And his father is "a dried mackerel that should stand up and wear a tweed." He quickly disappears from Burroughs' life.
And if a disappearing father isn't bad enough, his mother would eventually flippantly sign over Augusten's life to her extremely bizarre psychaiatrist.
This book is that life, life in the insane doctor's house.
"All I want is normal. But was that true? I wasn't so sure. because there was a part of me that enjoyed hating school, and the drama of not going, the potential consequences whatever they were. I was intrigued by the unknown. I was even slightly thrilled that my mother was such a mess. Had I become addicted to crisis?"
Running with Scissors is insanely sad, amazingly humorous and ultimately redeeming. The best writing about a tragic life is the writing that makes you laugh at the abject sadness of it all.
Augusten Burroughs nails it.
Book Review: A quirky memoir to be read and re-read
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this memoir when it was published in 2002. Now that other memoirists are rapidly adding their voices to Burroughs' amazing "come clean until it hurts" style of tell-all, I wanted to revisit this modern classic. If you have not read the book, but only seen the movie, don't think you can begin to get a taste of what Burroughs is all about from that film adaptation. Burroughs' laugh-out-loud angst can really only be appreciated on the page, and he must be read to be fully appreciated.
This book, about a boy brought up by a silent, angry father and a mad, narcissistic mother until he is abruptly given away to the mother's insane psychiatrist and his whacked-out family, is a jaw-dropping page-turner. That the boy even grows up to write this memoir is a miracle, in light of the sex, drugs and weirdness he is subjected to over the course of his boyhood.
This is a must-read book, and should be a permanent fixture in any well-stocked home library.
Book Review: Shrieking With Pain & Delight
Summary: 5 Stars
This unique book by Augusten Burroughs covers the years of his early adolescence when he lives with his mentally ill mother's shrink and a host of other loonies in a large ramshackle house in the 1970s. Augusten's casual yet dramatic voice carries us along as he experiences adulthood thrust upon him too soon - sexual abuse by a pedophile who also resides there, and being encouraged to fake a suicide attempt so he can drop out of school early are only two of the several mind-blowing events. The author's wit and self-effacing attitude serve him well in surviving this circus. He has gone on to write several other interesting memoirs but if you haven't read him yet this is the best place to start. Next I recommend you go to Dry to see how the events of Running With Scissors have impacted his adulthood. Kudos to Augusten for presenting unique books which both entertain and inspire.Book Review: Like Watching A Train Wreck
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't look but can't help it. This book was sooooo good. Yes, I know it disturbing, twisted and sick, but at the same time it's very facinating. I couldn't put this down.
Plus, it makes you so thankful for your own family. I would recommend this book only to those who aren't faint hearted.
But if you can handle heavy material, then this is a book that you should read.
Book Review: True-to-life Childhood
Summary: 5 Stars
Augusten Burroughs pulls no punches in this honest look at life as he knew it as a pre-teen and teenage boy. His life takes a turn for the crazy when he and his mother become heavily involved with the Finch Family, but he doesn't blame them for ruining his life. Rather, he merely states his various relationships with the family as matter-of-fact. The author writes simply and the book is easy to read. I really enjoyed it.