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Running with Scissors: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs
by katyj10
This is a review of the 2002 book "Running with Scissors" (a memoir) by Augusten Burroughs. When I read the back page of this book I knew I just had to read it as it left me intrigued. The book is a true account of Augusten's boyhood. His mother gives him away aged 12 to her psychiatrist (a very strange man himself) and he ... lives alongside his strange yet welcoming family, eating valium like sweeties and playing with the vintage electroshock therapy machine for kicks!
I had no idea who this man was and have since found his wickipedia page to fill in the gaps of this knowledge. He lives in New York and is a famous writer.
The book is a real page turner and keeps you guessing about what's going to happen next The Finch family adopt Augusten and provide him with entertainment, company but not particularly good guidance. He is left to run free and finds great friendship in the two Finch daughters, Hope and Natalie, not to mention their adopted brother 'Bookman' who exploits the young Augusten and confirms his lifelong belief that he is gay.
Augusten comes across as an interesting young man, concerned with his appearance and not sure where is life is going, but he's sure he wants to do 'something' with it. He believes that beauty school may be his future so applies himself to a passed-down manual trying out all the treatments and therapies on friends and families. He eventually admits that he doesn't really want to be a hairdresser but would like to be famous for a range of brilliant hair products. He also fancies being a Doctor but more for the white coat and reputation than for the actual skills and work!
There are many funny bits I found in the book, my favourite has to be when Augusten and Natalie find the low ceiling in the kitchen to be opressive so they spend the evening knocking it out. They con 250 dollars from her dad (the Doctor) to fix the roof and insert a window. In doing this they pinch the pantry window because 'no one ever looks out of it anyway' and somehow manage to install it in the high roof. A permanent leak occurs in the kitchen afterwards as the pair never took any measurements when knocking out the hole and so there is a gap above the window. But no one minds.
Ever resourceful, the pair also hold a 'yard sale' with lots of furniture from the house but the family eventually move out of the house and on to the lawn living there all day and just sleeping indoors at night. They take the price tags off the stuff because they don't want to spoil the fun of living outside!
Whilst this book has many dark moments, it is not a 'poor me' book by any means and is written in a lighthearted manner and is a true tale of survival. I stumbled across this book but I'm glad I did as it makes me appreciate how normal my childhood was. Something that Augusten maintains he would have liked but he seems to buzz from the unusual episodes that happen.
The book is helpfully split into chapters, each of which is titled to hint at the content of that section. I'm glad that Augusten has since lived a long and sucessful life and I am tempted to find some of his other books as I'm sure they would make a stunning read. I think I could read this book again in a few years' time and enjoy it just as much.
Top marks: five out of five from me.
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Running with Scissors: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs
by rlaverty
This has been a favourite book of mine for a few years now, and on the strength of this book, I have gone on to purchase all of Augusten Burroughs' other books. In short, I have fallen in love with him a bit!
As other reviewers have stated, the plot of the book sounds quite a depressing tale, full of dysfunction, adolescence, ... family troubles and psychiatry! But Augusten injects such warmth and humour into the stories of his youth that this book is utterly charming and gripping in equal measure.
Unsurprisingly this was made into a film, but as ever the film doesn't quite do the book justice. I found that when reading this book it conjured up such vivid mental images, (some in 70's sepia glory) that there was no way that a film could live up to them.
I have recommended this book to so many people over the years, and lent my copy out countless times- in fact I no longer know where it is! Noone has come back with a negative comment about it. It's truly a touching story; quirky enough to avoid cliches or typical cloying teen trouble storylines yet told with such a personable tone that much of the weirdness suddenly seems quite normal afterall!
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Running with Scissors: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs
by yahoo2003
I read this book on holiday.
The Plot:
This is an autobiography about a Augusten's extremely strange childhood and family life. He is the son of a very unhappily married couple who fight consistently - his mother is a quirky character and his father is a solemn, quiet type. The arguing gets so bad that his ... mother starts to see a psychiatrist. Without giving away too much detail about the plot, Augusten ends up going to live with his mother's psychiatrist in an extremely strange set-up where the house is full of his own children but also other interesting characters. There are no rules and normally no-one goes to school so everything is chaotic. The book recounts his experience of living in this strange set-up and shows how he grows up as a result of this.
Verdict:
I enjoyed reading this book as I do enjoy reading most autobiographies. It was really interesting reading about such a strange family set-up and some of the stories and the ways of the characters in the stories were totally crazy. As well as there being generally strange and funny stories, there was also a darker side to the book about the way that this way of life affected the characters - everything is not just fun and madness.
I think the problem with autobiographies such as this is sometimes that there is not one particular pivotal point in the book - there is no specific point in the book where all the action is building up towards like there often is in a film or a fictional book, because of course it is real and these things cannot be faked in an autobiography. I did enjoy reading it but found some parts a little flat, and I would also have liked to have more of a follow-up at the end in terms of where his life went.
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