Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
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Book Reviews of Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Book Review: Liked the Movie Better
Summary: 4 Stars
By Valley Gay Press Book Reviewer Liz Bradbury (Author of Angel Food and Devil Dogs - A Maggie Gale Mystery)
The movie got dozens of poor reviews at Amazon, where readers of the book insisted the book was so much better. I happened to like the movie so I figured the book would be great. It was good, but I liked the movie better.
The book, an autobiographical work that describes Augusten Burroughs' bizarre adolescence, features a mother that is so dysfunctional, Joan Crawford seems like June Cleaver. Mom dumps Augusten at the home of her warped therapist whose family brings to mind a barely saner Addams family. Burroughs describes a series of incidents that colored his life, but the book also contains a definite understory of the boredom that comes from a life with no rules or obligations, including no school.
The movie has the extra intensity of an excellent cast, including Annette Benning, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Chenoweth, Jill Clayburgh, and Gwyneth Paltrow and lacks some of the grossness of the book which makes the movie easier to take. Still it's an interesting story, both funny and grim with a writing style that makes it compelling.
Book Review: Yee-oww!
Summary: 4 Stars
It was the weirdest thing - I discovered that I can still be shocked by someone's really bad childhood.
Who'd've thought a bad childhood could be bad on so *many* levels and in so many crazy ways? And that the survivor of said childhood would choose not only to write a book about it, but to write it in such a way that the reader can, when not cringing or thinking "holy crap!" might even laugh inappropriately?
There were times when I thought, "he's *got* to be making this up."
There was utterly no warning prior to a very graphic sexual scene between our protagonist and Bookman. It was a little more intense than I felt comfortable with, particularly since it occurred between a child and an adult. On the other hand, I suppose it's the author's story to tell. He lived it; I could choose to read it or not.
By the end of the book, I really wanted the psychiatrist to have paid some sort of retribution for his many crimes, but that wasn't the reality.
The author is a wickedly good storyteller.
Book Review: Too Strange to be Fiction
Summary: 4 Stars
The book starts with Burroughs detailing his childhood as his parents head towards divorce. His obsession with becoming a hair stylist, with shiny things and observations on his parents' driving each other crazy is slightly scary, yet funny.
At thirteen, his psychotic mother shoves him off on her eccentric therapist's family. At this point, his life and the narration spins out of control. He's split between two households where each scene becomes more and more bizarre. He makes many adjustments to fit in with the erratic, no-holds-barred nuttiness of Dr. Finch's family. It gets worse as the years go by. Although Burroughs defines himself as gay, he is repulsed by the first forced sexual experience with the doctor's adopted son. The reader becomes a compulsive voyeur as the young man's life unfolds in explicit details. It's an amazing account by someone who survived a horrific childhood. Compelling reading that's not really funny after the first part. The descriptions grab the reader and create a feeling of being there as it happens.
Book Review: BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND YET HORRIBLY SHOCKING
Summary: 4 Stars
If you think you have had a messed up childhood, after reading this book, yours would be so easy in comparison. Augusten Burroughs, in his memoir, tells us about his twisted nightmare of an upbringing, by his mother, her psychiatrist, and the doctor's weird family.This story would leave anyone else grabbing their knees, bending over at times and feeling sick!!! Burroughs manages to tell the story with wit and humour, and honesty. We all have childhood memories we like to keep hidden, but I give Burroughs a lot of credit for exposing his abused childhood so candidly. It's amazing that his life turned out so well after such an abused upbringing. There are graphic homosexual scenes in this story of a very young teen and his lover who is 33 years old.
Beautifully written and yet horribly shocking and disgusting at times. It is a difficult book to listen to, but one you will find yourself racing through to the finish line.
Book Review: Falling All Over "Scissors"
Summary: 4 Stars
I wouldn't call myself an avid reader per se. Perhaps its simply because there have been very few books that can hold the attention of my ever shifting mind, none the less Running With Scissors kept my attention from page to page making it impossible to put down. I read the book in entirety in a little bit under a day in a half. From the moment that I started reading it I found myself addicted. Turning page after page unable to stop. If you are looking for a profound meaning to be found in the contents of this book you will be reading it in vain. Pure light hearted fun with discriptions that will remind you of what it is like to see life through the eyes of an adolescent child. You will find pure enjoyment, shock and surprise with each chapter you read. It is definately worth your time and money and is a pure joy to read.