This is the story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of grandeur) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa Claus and a certifiable lunatic into the bargain. Suddenly at the age of 12, Augusten found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian house in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients and a paedophile living in the garden shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules or school. The Christmas tree stayed up until Summer and valium was chomped down like sweets. When things got a bit slow, there was always the ancient electroshock therapy machine under the stairs.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Running With Scissors
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There is a passage early in Augusten Burroughs's harrowing and highly entertaining memoir Running with Scissors that speaks volumes about the author. While going to the garbage dump with his father, young Augusten spots a chipped glass-top coffee table that he longs to bring home. "I knew I could hide the chip by fanning a display of magazines on the surface, like in a doctor's office," he writes, "And it certainly wouldn't be dirty after I polished it with Windex for three hours."
There were certainly numerous chips in the childhood Burroughs describes: an alcoholic father, an unstable mother who gives him up for adoption to her therapist and an adolescence spent as part of the therapist's eccentric extended family, gobbling prescription medicines and fooling around with both an old electroshock machine and a paedophile who lives in a shed out back. But just as he dreamed of doing with that old table, Burroughs employs a vigorous program of decoration and fervent polishing to a life that many would have simply thrown in a landfill. Despite her abandonment, he never gives up on his increasingly unbalanced mother. And rather than despair about his lot, he glamorises it: planning a "beauty empire" and performing an a cappella version of "You Light Up My Life" at a local mental ward.
Burroughs' perspective achieves a crucial balance for a memoir: emotional but not self-involved, observant but not clinical, funny but not deliberately comic. And it's ultimately a feel-good story: as he steers through a challenging childhood, there's always a sense that Burroughs' survivor mentality will guide him through and that the coffee table will be salvaged after all. --John Moe, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘One of the most compelling books you’ll find in the overstuffed childhood memoir section.’ -- Jane Perry, Observer
--This text refers to an alternate
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MY MOTHER IS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE BATHROOM MIRror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick. Read the first page
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MY MOTHER IS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE BATHROOM MIRror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful
By Luanne
Format:Hardcover
Ths book was recommended to me by a friend in America and I snapped it up as soon as it became available over here. My friend said I wouldn't be able to put it down. She was right. I read the entire thing in one sitting.
The story recounts five years in the life of Augusten Burroughs. His mother, being crazy, gives up her son into the care of her psychiatrist, and life for 12 year old Augusten just gets even crazier. The book reads as though it is a comedy and, trust me, you will find yourself laughing out loud on several occasions, but there is nothing comedic about the contents of the book. Some of the events are so shocking they seem slightly unbelievable and just when you think things couldn't get any worse, Burroughs throws something even more terrible at you, and you are left reeling from the impact.
You have to keep reminding yourself that this is a memoir, that these things did really happen to this little boy. Burroughs lived through this and the fact that he has produced such a stunning memoir, and indeed written it with such humour, is truly remarkable.
I would advise everyone who has ever read a book to read this one. It may never win literary acclaim, but Running With Scissors is an amazing read. I never thought it was possible to feel both repulsion and warmth at the same time, but Burroughs has shown me how it is done. Then again, through Running With Scissors, Burroughs has opened my eyes to a lot of things.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book after reading an extract from it in a magazine and nothing could have prepared me for what I found. The book is a dark and disturbing memoir of a boy who is "raised" by the crazy family of his mother's psychiatrist. But don't be fooled, this is no navel-gazing, weighty tear-jerker; Burroughs writes candidly and with a dark humour and never encourages the reader to feel sorry for him or judge the bizarre parade of characters that pass through.
I'm sure this book won't appeal to everyone and if you're looking for a probing, 'hankies at the ready' story of a scarred childhood, then this isn't for you; however, if you want a fascinating, darkly comic book that explores the seedier side of growing up, then this is an excellent choice.
I'm sure this book won't appeal to everyone and if you're looking for a probing, 'hankies at the ready' story of a scarred childhood, then this isn't for you; however, if you want a fascinating, darkly comic book that explores the seedier side of growing up, then this is an excellent choice.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By kehs
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is an emotional but not self-involved memoir. The life of a boy whose mother is a poet who is determined to be published. When he is 12 years old she gives him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, who is in fact a certifiable lunatic himself. Augusten finds himself living in a dilapidated Victorian house in squalor and mayhem. In this home there were no rules and Burroughs didn't have to attend school. In fact, in order to receive permission for him to not attend school, the doctor gives him pills and alcohol to fake a suicide attempt, then enabling him to declare the child unfit for school. When Burroughs is 14 he starts a homosexual relationship with an older man. Burroughs writes with a dark humour and never attempts to make the reader feel sorry for him. These memoirs should be sad and disturbing, but somehow the author manages to make light of all the strange events that shaped his childhood. I found the child abuse parts difficult to read, but again, Burroughs just seems to accept everything that happened with a wry shrug of his shoulders. Burroughs's powers of observation are written in a humorous manner, without appearing to be deliberately funny. There's a strong feeling all the way through the book that Burroughs' survivor mentality will guide him through what was a challenging childhood, the likes of which the majority of us cannot even imagine. A compelling read that I was surprised to find myself enjoying.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
If this is based on truth, it's certainly stranger than fiction!
If you want an account of the weirdest childhood and adolescence EVER, this has got to be it! I'm not sure whether it is based on actual events - if so, I guess a number of people... Read more
Published 1 day ago by lesley brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!
I read this book after reading 'Dry' when I just had to find out about the childhood Augusten Burroughs refers to. I was gripped throughout.
Published 18 days ago by Julie
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tconduct
Thoroughly enjoyed this book didn't really expect to .... a complete life of coincidences some that worked out well some not so ...
Published 28 days ago by tracyc
4.0 out of 5 stars
Running with Scissors
I bought this book for myself as I have read a book by Augusten Burroughs's brother John Elder Robison and I wanted to see the 'other side' of their childhood. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jill Hardcastle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mad Brilliance
Mad brilliance from the beginning to the end. Definitely a good read. Quirky would be an understatement. Don't miss this
Published 1 month ago by C Bevington-Green
5.0 out of 5 stars
So funny
Had been thinking about buying this book for years, and have no idea why I didn't do it sooner. Absolutely hilarious, and highly recommended.
Published 2 months ago by Booklover
2.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe a true story, but difficult to read
I was looking forward to this one. It was difficult to read - not because I felt too upset for him, but because each chapter was almost a short story in itself. Read more
Published 2 months ago by V. Ricketts
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant read
As a parent/grandparent of children on different parts of the ASD apectrum this book was a must read.
this gives a great insight of the trials of a person with Autism.
this gives a great insight of the trials of a person with Autism.
Published 2 months ago by purplefairy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking.
This is not a book you can say you "enjoyed" because of the subject matter. Amazing what people can survive.
Published 3 months ago by willowtree
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rivetting
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me reading when I should have been doing other things. Great charactorisation and plot.
Published 3 months ago by Tashifan
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