Rating: 
Summary: I wish him all the peace in the world, but...
Review: ...a good writer he is not. The story is outrageous and sad and my hat's off to him for surviving (and, apparently, surviving alcoholism as per his new book), but it's just not well written. You can tell he and his editor thought his writing was witty and perhaps even funny, but it's actually quite forced and self-conscious. As another reviewer said, it reads like a trashy novel. Bummer. For a much better read in a somewhat similar vein, try "The Liar's Club."
Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: I bought this book for my husband for Christmas because the reviews were so good. I was shocked by the content and I didn't think I was that easily shocked. Both my husband and I think this book is awful. Don't buy it, I will give you our copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: After all of the hype I'd read about Running with Scissors, the book itself was disappointing. It's a quick read with the feeling of a trashy novel, but with no real point to the book other than for Burroughs to brag "Hey, look what my life was like - wasn't it crazy?" Burroughs doesn't spend much time exploring his own thoughts on the situations (other than to give opinions that the readers were likely to have on their own) or probing the actions of the other people in his life at the time. All in all, a very superficial treatment of a disturbingly strange period in the author's life.
Rating: 
Summary: shocking
Review: This book was a quick read. It was just so interesting! In the beginning, I was shocked at the daily turmoil this young boy endured, but by the end I learned to expect the unexpected. None of the situations are what most people would find funny, but the author puts a hilarious spin on everything. It is, after all, his life and this is the way he's chosen to view it. He has made a great success of such a hopeless life. I was left inspired. This book makes one realize that no matter how terrible you think your life is, there is always someone going through worse. Make no mistake, readers will be disgusted at times, but the overall story is worth the heartache. This book is a must!
Rating: 
Summary: Weird, disturbing, and funny.
Review: 'Running With Scissors' is weird, funny, touching, and grotesque. A memoir that reads like fiction (much like a John Irving novel), 'Running With Scissors' tells the twisted coming of age story of Augusten Burroughs., a teenage boy struggling to survive in the strange surrounding he calls home.Forcing his abusive father out, Augusten is left to live with his mother, a beatnik poet on the verge of a breakdown. Seeking psychiatric help, Augusten's mother begins seeing Dr. Finch, an unorthodox psychiatrist who bears a resemblance to Santa Claus. Dr. Finch has problems of his own...he has an extremely bizarre family, as well as a pedophile who resides in his backyard shed. Thinking things could not get any worse, Augusten gets the shock of his life when he finds out his mother is signing over his guardianship to Dr. Finch. Augusten Burroughs lived a wild, and strange life, one that could be the script of a John Waters film. He has experienced tragedy, horror, repulsion, and ultimately redemption in his, often hilarious, journey of self discovery and adulthood. 'Running With Scissors' is unlike any other memoir you have ever read, or will read, and while it's NOT for everyone, those that are brave enough to read it will surely never forget it. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: hilarious in a morbid and disturbing way
Review: I don't know what else to say, except you better have quite the open mind if you want to read this (I don't know why you would be reading this if you didn't). It's got disturbing subject matter that cross the subjects of pedophilia, rape, psychological malpractice, family dysfunction/abuse, homosexuality, drug use, etc. Somehow, though, it comes together as one of the most hilarious books I think I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Run away from Running with Scissors
Review: Disturbing, if true, and even more so if not -- who would make up this stuff? I read lots of different kinds of literature, fiction and non-fiction, and have never had to stop reading a book because it was so disturbing. Such unbelievable tales of physical, psychological, and emotional abuse of a young child...it was more than I could take. The title "Running with Scissors" makes it sound like this is somehow amusing or at least someone enjoying living dangerously. I fail to see the amusement. I certainly hope that writing this book was therapeutic for the author. It did nothing for me but cause me to give thanks for what seems more and more like a normal, reasonable childhood experience -- but then, compared to the one in the book, everyone's experience falls in the realm of "normalcy."
Rating:
Summary: An hysterical delight!
Review: Someone said: "Like John Waters crossed with David Sedaris". If you think that those two only tell sad stories, then you won't enjoy this. If you are amazed at yourself laughing out loud - constantly - on the undergraound while reading a book, then grab a copy of this right away. The cell-shaking laughter that this books causes will cure most any ailment.
Rating:
Summary: A sad story.
Review: I was expecting something a little different. A friend of mine told me it was a funny story. It had its moments, but I couldn't get past the childhood pain. It makes me wonder about my friend. If you're looking for a funny story without the misery, I recommend DELANO by John Orozco.
Rating:
Summary: Needless Graphic Descriptions
Review: I read this book as an avid reader of novels of all types but at the end, reviewed the book as the psychiatrist that I am becaue of the disturbing descriptions contained in it of what were essentially long lurid tales of the author's being raped by a homosexual man who was 20 years his senior. Many of the descriptions of his growing up were sad, not funny, and people who find this tragic story funny would probably laugh at any tragedy as it unfolds. This man was a victim of a crazy, pathological mother and a misguided psychiatrist who should have been driven out of the profession, jailed and banished from the world of medicine forever. If this story had been that of a 13 year old girl who was systematically taken advantage of by her 30+ year old "lover", it probably would have evoked howls of protest. This is another example of "art by exclusion" because of some critics need to find the most objectionable and provocative examples of expression artistic even though it has no redeeming value. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
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