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Summary: Coming of Age in a Distorted World
Review: This memoir provides unusual insight into the distortion of mental illness: what's feels "normal" truly isn't normal within the standards western society. Mr. Burroughs is buffeted by love that abandons, love that controls, love that abuses. Yet, he survives and many times is the only sane person in his world.Amusing, heartbreaking, at times uncomfortable, finally hopeful.
Running with Scissors (great title!) expands your perspective and in the end leaves you with a greater capacity for compassion to fellow man. Childhood can be hell, some worse that others. p.s. For a novel with similar themes, check out White Oleander by Janet Fitch
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Summary: It's like reading about a traffic accident...
Review: You can't stop but watch and wonder. Augusten Burroughs delightfully grim memoir, "Running with Scissors", chronicles his early life with such candor and honesty, you both admire and pity the lad, all the while laughing and staring. Augusten was certainly dealt some challenges in his early life. That he grew up to survive them is a testament to his strength of character, or just pure determination. It is easy to see how he survives though. He writes himself as a strong character in this memoir, the sane person in a loony bin, if you will. He is patient observer of all the madness around him. While he certainly fits into the mob with his own pecularities (I personally related to his fascination with Donny and Marie's sparkling clothing!), he also writes as if watching this from afar. Perhaps that distance allowed him to write such a funny, surreal book. Burroughs writing style is easy and familiar. Burroughs writes upfront and honestly, in a matter of fact way, almost as if giving a news report on the insanity around him. It is a brisk, entertaining read that you will not want to put down. I honestly cannot wait to see who dares to make a movie out of this wonderful tale. "Running with Scissors", one of the most entertaining books I've read this year!
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Summary: And I thought my life was odd.
Review: This book, first of all, is incredibly funny. Within the first few chapters, I had to put it down several times so that I wouldn't get spittle on it as I laughed out loud. Augusten's mother is a complete trip, an obsessive poet whose angry fights with her husband are unlike any my divorced parents ever had. Augusten's life with his mother's therapist is even more twisted than that, though. The book manages a balance constantly between giddy humor and complete, utter despair, which isn't easy at all. Pick it up. As the cliche goes, you'll laugh ... you'll cry.
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Summary: This book kicks a**..!
Review: ...in the words of the ubiquitous Cartman (South Park). Augusten Burroughs' memoir about growing up in apparently the most dysfunctional place in the Universe, is brilliant, if somewhat surreal. Burroughs relates his childhood with his mother, who may or may not be insane, and the cast of bizarre characters that inhabit his world. Like a strange episode of "The Twilight Zone", "Running With Scissors" is at once engaging and horrifying. I had to keep reminding myself throughout that it wasn't fiction, that Burroughs had actually experienced the drama as he told it. With a wry sense of humor that's prevalent all the way through, Burroughs manages to depict the horror of his life without slipping into maudlin self-pity. An excellent read...and I hope there's a sequel!
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Summary: People bother me.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I will grant that the comparisons to Sedaris are a little odd, it is still a wonderful read on its own. Here are some things I think some of the negative reviewers should keep in mind: 1- One complained that it felt like it was written by a 15-year-old. Of course it does, in a sense, because much of the book is through the eyes of a 15-year-old. Having read some of Burroughs' other work, I can say that this was intentional, and I liked it. 2- Another moaned that he keeps his emotions (and us) at arms-length. This comment makes me wonder if they even read the book! He repeatedly notes that, as a child and teenager, his 'default emotion' was numbness. Therefore, his perspective on some of the highly absurd and ridiculous events SHOULD seem veiled--it's a device and it works. 3- Several whine that there is no way that he could remember conversations verbatim. These complaints usually follow statements of disappointment in comparing this to Sedaris. Which begs the question, do they think Sedaris can? The conversations are, obviously, constructed through memory and the journal that Burroughs religiously kept throughout his adolesence. Sigh. People bother me.
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Summary: Gruesome, darkly funny, sadly true
Review: Too many reviewers have described this book as a document about growing up gay in America. Although that is part of the subtext of this book, it is not the main theme. This book is not for the sqeamish. This book is about coming of age in a wildly dysfunctional household. The fact that it is a true account makes it all the more disturbing. There are passages about pedophilia, squallor, animal cruelty and the general mistreatment of children that made me cringe. The fact that the author survived this environment is a testament to the human spirit. Despite the darkness of this work, there are some light moments. Passages about a garage sale gone astray, a surrealistic approach to the Christmas season, and dogfood as a snack accentuate the absurdity that was the author's life. For these chapters alone it is worth plodding through some of the more disturbing chapters and some of the more boring chapters. As a mother and a human being I was saddened by much of the books content. This book is worth reading, because so many people are talking about it, but it is not a pleasurable read.
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Summary: A RUN AMUCK, FREE WILL LIFE!
Review: Augusten Burroughs has come thru with a rock solid no bars held memoir of his personal life. I laughed, I cried,( not much), I thought and I projected and I remembered, and I agonized and I was left with my own thoughts about growing up in a strange house, with strange people who were my relatives. Augusten's writing is Simi Salangeresque, but, in the long hall it has his (Augusten) stamp. All his characters have a face and I was able to draw on my life and paint them in my mind and thus see them in the book. They were real and he give's us living color...it is so vivid. How he was able to drag himself from all that chaos and make it to New York is a down right plus for the human spirit! The utter hellish parents and the Psycho Dr. Finch who is chosen to be Augusten's legal guardian.
Half the battle is knowing he has grown up gay and at 13 he has a lover who is 33 and lives in the attic of the finch house. DR Finch has children of his own plus patients who live under his roof. Dr. Finch is much enamored with Golda Meir, and tells everyone how excited he gets when he see's her picture. To quote Augusten 'life would be fabric softener, tuna-on-white, PTA-meeting normal," if he only of had a chance. You must read this book and you must enjoy the absolute chaotic personalities Augusten brings to the written page.
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Summary: Refreshingly Disturbing: The Bradys meet the Mansons
Review: Growing up as a gay teenager in America is hard. Growing up as a gay teenager in rural America is even harder. But growing up as a gay teenager in rural America with a mentally ill mother who pawns you off to an egomaniacal foster father with a quintessentially dysfunctional family is the worst. That Augusten Burroughs retained even a grain of sanity after his adolescence is miraculous. That he retained enough to write this outstanding autobiography is a testament to the resilience of the gay spirit. Throughout "Running with Scissors," I wanted to rescue the very vulnerable Augusten and give hime a good home. By the age of twelve, Augusten's parents had disintegrated in a mess of alcoholism and delusional psychosis, leaving him with a sense of isolation he is unable to shake. Already school-phobic, he wraps himself in a cocoon of comforting television images and Hollywood fantasies from the late 1970's. When in the course of his mother's treatment Augutsten finds himself living with her psychiatrist and his large disorganized family, his struggle for perspective begins. Both disturbing and hilarious at the same time, Burroughs describes the consolation and distress of living in a world where squalor and chaos is so pervasive that it eventually becomes normal. The crux of Augusten's plight is assimilation: to remain in the family and fully integrate their dysfunction into his own life, or to leave and regain control over his future. This is a coming out story of a different kind; while his sexuality is a secondary issue, Augusten still must "come out" and back into functional society. Burroughs does a fantastic job describing characters in detail rich enough that the reader immediately acquires intuition with regard to their motives. Because of this, it is easy to understand that these are not simply eccentric people. To see them that way would trivialize the challenge the young Augusten faces. Most poignant was his wildly inappropriate sexual relationship with a man twice his age. Augusten suffers endless losses; his parent's marriage, his mother's sanity, the companionship of his surrogate family, but the realization that his "boyfriend" was gone, leaves him feeling emotionally empty and truly abandoned. "Running with Scissors" never seems whiney because Burroughs never lapses into lamentations about another, better life he could have had. When the inevitable comparison does arise, he shrugs it off without a trace of self-pity. Thankfully, there are no self-help references in this book, no mention of the dreaded "recovery" process, and no maudlin scenes describing reconciliation. As a memoir, the narrative can be tricky in places when Burroughs bounces back and forth without chronological markers. In addition, there are a few tertiary characters that come and go, and keeping track of them can be difficult. However, neither of these detracts from the overall effect of the story. I finished this wonderful book and admittedly, shed a few tears after the epilogue. Though I think most people will not understand the fragility and isolation of growing up gay, I hope everyone who reads this book will sympathize with the strength of character therein. I thoroughly enjoyed "Running with Scissors" and highly recommend it.
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Summary: Delusions of grandeur (and being like David Sedaris.)
Review: RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is not as disturbing as some of the reviews would lead you to believe. However, I say this from the perspective of a 30ish gay man who grew up in the deep South in the 70s and 80s where most of the "antics" depicted in the book would barely get a second look when I was coming out. The only exception to that comment I have to make is the "relationship" between Augusten Burroughs and Neil is really disturbing as it appears to be a case of pedophilia. I found nothing humorous in a 14-year old being physically involved with a person more than twice their age. The psychiatrist in whose home Mr. Burroughs spent several of his formative teen years is largely to blame for this, as Mr. Burrough's mother had long ago taken leave of her senses and custody of her son. While the book starts out in an interesting fashion, the last half completely collapses in on itself as Burroughs' descriptions of inane events like frosting his hair, and building a skylight in the kitchen seem to take center stage in his daily life. Not interesting, just boring after so many pages. Having enjoyed the works of David Sedaris for many years through his books and NPR appearances, I have come to appreciate a modern gay man's look at life in America. While Sedaris is wry and perspicacious, it would be a long stretch to include Burrough's "memoir" in the same realm. Burroughs is a fair writer in need of judicious editing. He doesn't compare to Sedaris' unique voice on gay life. After finishing this book, and being quite glad it ended after some 300 pages, I really felt saddened and depressed by the whole story.
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Summary: This is an American story that continues without stop...
Review: If you have ever worked in a "children's" psychiatric hospital you will recognize these people. The author writes with the affect of every child admited because of a crazy, crazy existence at home. If you've even been touched by any of these dynamics you'll recognize it and the author's wisdom and survival modes. I would recommend this book to everyone. It's something mom and apple pie don't want you to know.
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