general

If you think your family is dysfunctional read Augusten Burroughs memoir "Running with Scissors." It is an almost not to be believed childhood. His mother suffers from mental illness and imagines herself a great poet. His father is an alcoholic and he ends up living with his mothers psychiatrist. That family invented the word dysfunctional. Throughout all of this Burroughs survived and wrote a very entertaining book. It's not always pleasant to read and I found myself squirming at certain things that reminded me of my own family. However, it's about a young boy whose spirit is not broken by the madness around him. He also has to deal with his own sexual orientation and finds comfort in being the lover of a 33 year old man who also slips into madness and disappears. It's not for the squeamish and there are some very gross descriptions of body functions and graphic gay sex. That is a small price to pay for such an uplifiting book by a man who has survived.

This book may be for you. If you're easily offended by graphic depictions of gay sex, abuse, bodily functions & mental disorders, I'd advise you to stay away. You'll be more horrified than amused.

A good friend bought my this book as part of a package of things that reminded him of me. I'm so glad he did. My childhood feels positively normal compared to this boy's.

This ia a graphic, hilariously dark tale of child abuse, neglect, addictions, craziness, homosexuality, and of surviving. There were parts of the book I was appalled at, parts I empathized with, and parts that I couldn't read because I couldn't quit laughing.

However, if you can see past the surface of things, you may just empathize a bit with this confused, bright, resiliant, neglected & abused boy.

There were chapters that horrified me when I realized that these things actually happened. On the flip side, there were scenes that had my laughing hysterically. His obsession with his & everyone's elses hair, and the episodes of the dying cat, and the many messages from God are both disturbing and funny.

If a young boy could survive & thrive after living though this hopefully untypical childhood, it gives me hope that things may work out ok after all. I can't wait to see what happens next.

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 />