Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Like "Tom Sawyer"
Review: People have taken to comparing new books to past success. It can be claimed that "Secret Life of Bees" is this decade's "Color Purple" and that "My Fractured Life" is this era's "Catcher in the Rye" - and I endorse those comparisons. In comparing modern books to the classics of yesteryear, I am convinced "Running With Scissors" will come to be regarded as this decade's "Tom Sawyer." Remember Mark Twain's masterpiece was in fact considered highly rebellious in its day (a young man cons his friends, runs away from home, and befriends a slave). "Running With Scissors" pushes the envelope in that same way (teen homosexuality and drug abuse). I not only think that it can be considered our decade's "Tom Sawyer", I am convinced it will go on to become a modern classic.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Burroughs Book
Review: Agusten Burroughs' "RUNNING WITH SCISSORS" is absolutely brilliant. From the heart breaking attempts to maintain a relationship with his damaged mother to the hollow effects of his alcoholic father, it so parallels the memoir "MY FRACTURED LIFE" from Rikki Lee Travolta it inspired me to reread the later (which in turn inspired me to reread this one). Even the pain medications and being pursued by a pedophile sing similar with the balance of funny and harrowing. "RUNNING WITH SCISSORS" is my favorite of Burroughs' books.
Rating:
Summary: One of the BEST
Review: Callie Sawyer, fan of Non Fiction,
Running With Scissors is a remarkable book within the memoir/biography/abuse genre. The book is all telling and yet there is a rare look at the abuse suffered with dignity and at times humor. I have read many such books. Running with Scissors compares easily to that of 'Nightmares Echo' (agree with prior reviewer),also due to the details of the book I compare it to Dry,The Privilege Of Youth, and A Million Little Pieces. In each of the afore-mentioned books you find a compelling story, sometimes sad, and sometimes they laugh within themselves at the 'luck of the draw' they got from childhood on. Yet, they never give up the fight for courage and determination.
Rating:
Summary: If memoir is your genre, this is the book for you
Review: Being a fan of memoir isn't easy. There are so many memoirs, and not all of them are good. This one isn't good, it's great. It has an authenticity and wit that make it hard to put down -- not only will you laugh, but at times, you will be tempted to cry. Most of all, I appreciated how the author, indirectly, captures the dymanic of narcissism that has being running rampant in this country since the '70s. This book is completely absorbing and has my vote for Memoir Of The Year.
Rating:
Summary: Intense Subject Matter
Review: Neecy Trimble, lover of nonfiction-memoirs,
Though this is an extrememly intense subject matter the author does well to serve it up to us with a bit of humor. It lightens the book up a bit and yet we as readers can still see the pain behind the mask of the laughter. This is an a wonderfully well written book. Kudo's to the author for this memoir.
Other memoirs with like qualities: Nightmares Echo,A Child Called It,Secret Life Of Bees,Beauty For Ashes.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth is stanger than fiction....
Review: I was enthralled and scared at the same time. I have since read Burrough's book Dry, and after reading about his childhood, it's no wonder he became an alcoholic. I'm not giving the guy an excuse, but when your pyschiatrist is sicker than you, something is wrong, very wrong. If you want your dysfuntional family to appear functional, read this book. The kid under the piano is something you won't soon forget.
Rating: 
Summary: Page turner, but no substance
Review: The book is a memoir rather than an autobiography so it is more episodic (no pun intended) than linear and while each character is certainly colorful, there is no sense of exactly who each person is beyond a set of very weird behaviors. The author mentions a series of quirks (some funny, some very disturbing) with no foundation. Why does the family save its turkey bones and break its dishes? How long did they live outside? How many pills did he take? In the end, the people are interesting anecdotes, but I just don't care enough about them to read the sequel. For those who are looking for a memoir that seizes humor out of tragedy, I would recommend "Angela's Ashes" rather than "Running with Scissors".
Rating:
Summary: Captures the Moment
Review: I really liked this book. I enjoyed the broken writing style. The frank yet nonjudgemental address of mental illness was refreshing and clear. It is easy to understand the comparisons to My Fractured Life. My ownly complaint was his childhood references to people telling him he should be a writer and him saying no. It is somehow very distracting when people who write biographies write about whether or not they will turn out to be a writer. For me, it takes me out of the moment of listening to a 13 year old narrator when he wonders if he'll end up a writer - because obviously he did or I wouldn't be reading the book. That complaint is minor though, overall I loved the book.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing, Shocking, and Edgy
Review: The writing and characters in this book are amazingly done, and it captivated me from beginning to end. Even if some of the subject matter goes well over the edge (and may not appeal to some readers), this author's brilliance is how he presents even the most bizarre situations with such matter-of-fact, concise descriptions that the twists and turns of these strange characters, while utterly shocking, absolutely fit into the story. The book follows Augusten through early childhood, overshadowed by his parents' doomed marriage and his mother's psychotic episodes, and then into the oddball world of the Finch family where nothing is out of bounds. Everyday Finch events range from Augusten and Natalie Finch testing their performance abilities by singing You Light Up My Life on a mental ward to a summer of living on furniture in the yard after initially moving unwanted items outside to sell then deciding to take off the tags to create another "room" of the house. It kind of takes your breath away each time these people take another step down the road of astonishing psychosis and obsession. The reason this book may not appeal to everyone is the graphic story of Augusten being molested at thirteen, then becoming involved in a sexual, not to mention manipulative, relationship with this older man for several years, another extraordinary twist being it's teenager Augusten doing the manipulating. Additionally the language from most members of the Finch household was continuously crude. One criticism about this book is the abrupt ending, with very little explanation about how Augusten came to his final realizations. It seemed the book was motoring along, picking up speed, then suddenly quit from nowhere. Despite the ending, the author has an uncanny ability to be hilarious, insightful and imaginative. One of my favorite lines from the book was his description of his mother's new lover Dorothy, whom he believed to perfectly complement his mother's imbalance: "If my mother was odd enough to crave a bubble bath at three in the morning, Dorothy was inventive enough to suggest adding broken glass to the tub."
Rating:
Summary: Almost disturbing yet extremely funny
Review: I just finished reading Running With Scissors in a 2 hour timestamp. It is one of the most disturbing yet hysterical memoirs I have ever read! Its unbelievable how a boy growing up between the ages of 9 and 17 was exposed to so many different life-changing turn of events but pulls each one together in a very dry, yet hysterical way. My favorite author is David Sedaris (author of Naked, Barrel Fever and Me Talk Pretty One Day) and when I heard about Augusten Burroughs being compared with him, I ran out and bought the book and all of those critics who said that were absolutely right! I am looking forward to this weekend when I can read his sequel, Dry.
Enjoy!
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