Rating: 
Summary: Humourous and yet....
Review: Yes this author tells his story with humor. But, underneath the laughter lies the pain of living through a difficult childhood. Mr. Burroughs did well in telling us his story in 'DRY',and as with 'DRY', you still know the life he led that took him through the addictions he suffered. It made me understand all the more another book I read called 'NIGHTMARES ECHO'. In that book the author details that though you see the addict,prostitute and homeless person-don't just assume they want to live life that way. There may be underlying reasons. Mr. Burroughs points that out as well in showing us his side of the story and the pain along with his humor. One of the best books I have read.
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Summary: The memoirs do have it this year
Review: The memoirs do have it this year, and "Running With Scissors" is no exception. It details a troubled life, addictions and the turning point (the determinationa nd courage) to turn your life around when it would be so much easier to fall in to the pitts. <br />This authors other books: "Dry" and now "Magical Thinking" are excellent books to read as well. he is a superb writer. Along those lines of good memoirs/Biographies to sink your teeth in to and learn about the real world and what goes on with in it (wether rich or poor) are books such as "Nightmares Echo", "If I Knew Then" and Sickened". All highly rated books <br />
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Summary: Wonderful Memoir
Review: <br /><br />This is one of the best Memoir/Autobiographies I have read. Fits in with other memoirs I have read such as NIGHTMARES ECHO and DRY. The interior is filled with emotional ups and downs. There is tears and laughter. The look inside the self as to why someone does the things they do. to be brought up in an-for lack of a better word-Eccentric life is at times abusive and yet this author finds humor in his own unhappiness. Great memoirs that each tell a story. <br />
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Summary: Spin that Agile Writing Web, You
Review: GOOD GOD, Augusten: I get the sense we are "soul sisters" as a Finch might say...except that I'm not gay, or a man, nor do I have an exceptional gift for writing.
This book, with which readers will become immediately and thoroughly obsessed with and engrossed in...I mean, that readers will enjoy immensely, is the literary equivalent of a circus performer's "death-defying" feat. Recounting his childhood experiences in a frank and genuine way, Burroughs manages to completely elude the potential "train wreck" factor; I chalk this up to a lack of self-censorship/editing which is both refreshingly skillful in execution and lending of an authenticity somewhat absent in many memoirs.
I read this book and I didn't want it to end. A bond was formed. A masterful teller of the true tale spun his agile writing web over me and I Am Thoroughly Impressed.
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Summary: Engrossing and Startling
Review:
Within the 288 pages of this non-fiction book we read about the upbringing of Augusten Burroughs. From his early days of living with his eccentric mother and alcoholic father, to the period of time she separates from his father - comes `out' as a lesbian, and places him within the care of her psychiatrist. The reader is presented with details of situations, emotions exhibited, and the effects it had on Augusten Burroughs.
Descriptions within this book inspire thought, and allow you to capture the atmosphere, moods, and happenstance of each occurrence described. Even the explanatory observance/involvement this boy has while watching his mother pamper herself is shared carefully. The detail of the hairdryer ticking as it cools down, his comparison of that to the noise of all things that become hot and go through the cool down period - allows the reader to be pulled into the story. This author inputs captivation of the sensory by mentioning fragrance (smells), sight, and feelings. I enjoyed this element during portions of the book, because it engages interest. Moments like this I found myself drawn into the text and thinking about how much this boy seemed to admire his self-absorbed mother.
Augusten Burroughs takes his bizarre upbringing, puts it into print, and allows lessons to shine forth. I feel that this author did a fine job on this sharing and it was perhaps the manner he presented the material that allowed me to partake the read. Certainly it packs power to allow most dysfunctional situations to seem... well... normal? This is truly an engrossing book. Other suggested titles (recent purchases, for me) Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez.
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Summary: Dark humor at its finest
Review: Just when you think these freaks can't get any more dysfunctional, they do. My girlfriend, Christy, recommended "Running With Scissors" to me and about midway through the book I started to email her and tell her that she needed psychiatric care for reading, let alone recommending, this book. Unfortunately, it's also very absorbing and I couldn't put it down long enough to tell Christy what I thought of her choice of reading material.
It's like some heart-stopping picture that you see posted on the internet somewhere - an extreme genital piercing or horrifying accident. You look; gasp and close your browser; reopen your browser and take another look, prepared for it this time; close your browser again in a fit of squeamishness; then look again, much longer this time; and just keep doing that until you're desensitized enough to explore the picture in all it's vivid goriness.
So I'll recommend this book, too, but not for the faint at heart. And now I'll have to get "Dry" so I can find out the rest of the story.
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Summary: Incredible story
Review: I had difficulties putting this book down simply because I was too good to be set aside. It is a unique and quite as bizarre story. Nevertheless, I consider this book to be memorable, highly disturbing, touching, fascinating and quite very funny. I recommend it to those with strong stomachs. However, for mild, strong or weak stomachs who love good reads,I recommend THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES.Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
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Summary: Boy Interrupted
Review: I enjoyed the wry, self-eviscerating essays in MAGICAL THINKING enough to be curious about their author, Augusten Burroughs. In MAGICAL THINKING Burroughs dropped a lot of clues about his dysfunctional childhood, drugs & alcohol problems, indifference to education, obsessions with pop culture (and especially beauty culture), inappropriate sex partners, and crazy mother. What's not to identify with? I was intrigued, and when I picked up RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, I was halfway expecting to see my own reflection. But, that wasn't my experience. Behind the humor (one person's defense mechanism is another's survival tool!), is a portrait of a lost childhood and a sense of alienation that make's Holden Caulfield's look like a bellyache. From MAGICAL THINKING I know that Burroughs's story has a reasonably happy ending. (If not a happy ending, at least that he was eventually able to make more than Tom Collinses from the lemons life gave him.) Burroughs went through a lot (including being legally relinquished by his mother to the care of her dubiously qualified psychiatrist at age 13). While living in the psychiatrist's household he becomes the underage lover of his adopted brother (twice his age) and manages with the enabling help of his "shrink father" to scam the school system into letting him quit school before the legal age of 16. Burroughs was the archetypal at-risk youth, and it says a lot about our society that children can so easily fall off the radar screen. Read RUNNING WITH SCISSORS for the laughs, or read it as biting social commentary--but read it.
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Summary: Perfect Title
Review: "Running With Scissors" is the perfect title for this memoir. It is exactly how the author feels...as though playing rush and roulette with your own life. The book is an excellent read. Explains much about addictions and the courage it takes to overcome.
Also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Dry
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Summary: The Finches = Addams Family Dysfunction?
Review:
Dear Reader:
If you've never heard of this book, and feel like really laughing -- then "Running With Scissors" is definitely the book for you. It's the story of a broken family and a nutty, terminally-selfish mother who, following her divorce, allows her son to take up permanent residence in her shrink's house, a family in total chaos, where no boundaries are established and everyone is allowed to run amok.
Yes, at one point I thought I was back, watching the once popular 60s TV series The Addams Family. Sing along now:...the Finches..."they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, all together oooky...the Finches, er Ad-dams Fa-mi-lee!..."
"BUT IT'S SO DISTURBING!"
Is this book disturbing, as other reviewers have mentioned? Not really. I didn't find it "disturbing" at all because it was told in such a cartoonish and comic way -- it would be like getting upset over a Roadrunner cartoon in which the coyote keeps dropping off a cliff or getting his face blackened after a back-fired explosion. ("That poor coyote!" Pass me a valium.)
No, this book is NOT recommended for members of the Christian Coalition. If you're easily shocked then defer to the latest Oprah pick instead. There's mention of gay sex (EGAD!), parental lesbianism (guess that would fall under "gay sex"), mentions of fortune-telling turds, home wrecking, and infidelity, even yeast infections and pedophilia! Basically, this book throws everything at you but the kitchen sink. There's a "holy sh*t!" to be uttered on every page: the surprises never stop coming.
"Running With Scissors" is truly a fun and lively and very bouncy book. Like many, I doubt the "truth" of this boyhood account (so-called memoir [...yawn!]), but find it very enjoyable, one of the best books I've read so far this year, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Burroughs, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez -- another exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
Thank you for your time,
Your humble reviewer.
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