Running With Scissors

OK, so, I understand that this is memoir and that, it may have events that could possibly be disturbing. In fact some events were very weird and put me off, but i lost it when the ‘turd' thing happened because...dear heavens, i do not want to imagine that scene and now i feel like i'll close my eyes and it will be there. Just so fucking weird.

But, i liked the book in the start. I related to some things, some words mentioned

2 stars.

This was a re-read. Upon recommending a friend give Burroughs's Dry a read I decided to give myself a mini-retrospective of his work. Running with Scissors is kind of a classic in the comic trauma memoir genre at this point, it would seem. It's still a great read, full of voice and vivid descriptions of settings and interior life. Forgot how brutal some of the content was.

I remember reading this book when it first came out; I hated it. Since then, I've read Dry and Magical Thinking by the same author and I seem to have completely changed my feelings about Burroughs. I have renewed sympathy for him, the byproduct of negligent parents, our consumer-driven society, a frighteningly destructive psychiatrist, and a pedophile.

I was so taken with the book, in fact, that I received it today and read it all in one sitting.

My god. This book was sitting on my bookshelf for over a year and I finally decided to take a chance and read the book. It is one of the funniest stories ever written, and because it is a memoir, its much harder to believe that all these crazy things happened to one person.

The story follows Augusten Burroughs growing up gay, with a mentally ill mother, her psychotic shrink and his anything but normal family in Massachusetts. He fakes a suicide attempt to get out of school, has a sexual relationship with a man 20 years older than him by the time he was 13, smokes pot, drinks alcohol, studies feces positions and other oddities that people don't usually do on a day to day basis.

Of course I believe some things must have been exaggerated. It is impossible to realize that ALL of the events happened exactly the same way he creatively writes them in. But I couldnt put the book down much during my christmas break, and I think everyone would enjoy this story and wish for more.

2.5
Unfortunately, the audiobook that I checked out had a faulty disk, so I missed about three chapters (20, 21, and 22), but I still felt that the ending fizzled a little. I didn't want a bow, nor did I expect one, it just felt like he turned off the tap. The chapters were starting to feel more and more like short stories, instead of a cohesive narrative.

There were also some difficult subject matters, and some I felt were a bit over done. As a whole I enjoyed it more than I didn't. If I'm able to find it I'll view the movie as well :)

This was a very hard book for me to read. My sister recommended it to me because it was so close to our own childhood experiences. Because of that, I had to take breaks between reading chapters just to ease my mind.

I recommend this book to anyone who has grown up in a dysfunctional household if you can stomach it.

Reading this memoir felt like watching a car crash — I wanted to look away, but I just couldn't. It was a heart-wrenching glimpse into how mental illness affects those around you. As his parents' marriage falls apart, 12-year-old Augusten's mother seeks help from a therapist, and thus begins the end of normalcy in Augusten's childhood. As his mother spirals deeper into her own insanity, she determines she cannot care for her son herself, and decides that he will stay with the doctor “temporarily.” Except that Dr. Finch — and most of his family — are mentally ill as well, and allow several of his patients to reside in their home with them. They live in squalor and believe that children should be able to control their own lives, whether that means skipping school, attempting suicide, or forming inappropriate relationships with pedophiles. Despite the author's attempts at humor, this was not a light book, and parts of it were very difficult to read.

This book was rather subpar and was not that grasping. I read, and finished, only to finish reading it. It wasn't all that shocking and, to be honest, it just seemed sad. I feel sorry that people like this exist out there because it is rather sad, but the writing didn't make me feel for Augusten because some of it was brought on himself by himself. Stay in school kids.