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A Wolf at the Table

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 14,819 ratings · 1,494 reviews

“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we’d ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasn’t altogether sure about one thing: was it just a drea...more

Hardcover, 242 pages

Published April 29th 2008 by St. Martin's Press

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Jun 02, 2008 tee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own

Burroughs is dramatic. He's a ranting, raving, immensely creative drama queen. Unfortunately his drama queen antics were too overboard this time around. There was a lot of could have, maybe, 'I think he might have', in this book. He writes well, but he made me cringe every couple of pages. The bright! he stared at the bright! when he was a year and a half old.

I think abuse of children in any form is horrid. That includes anything Burroughs' father may have done; whether it was making him feel u...more Burroughs is dramatic. He's a ranting, raving, immensely creative drama queen. Unfortunately his drama queen antics were too overboard this time around. There was a lot of could have, maybe, 'I think he might have', in this book. He writes well, but he made me cringe every couple of pages. The bright! he stared at the bright! when he was a year and a half old.

I think abuse of children in any form is horrid. That includes anything Burroughs' father may have done; whether it was making him feel unwanted or scaring him. He sounded like a bitter, twisted, nasty old man - the way he supposedly treated animals shows that. And for a child, the daddy that doesn't pay you attention and simmers with rage in his rocking chair can indeed be frightening. He is that wolf at the table. But when you're in your thirties, reaching your forties I think it's about time to maybe outgrow it, be bigger and better, stop chasing daddy's impossible affection. I guess it's frustrating as a reader to see this guy putting himself back in the range of fire, over and over again. I wanted to slap him, really. Dude, you found an abandoned cabin in the fucking woods, why would you be so intent on wanting to curl up in daddy's lap? From your descriptions of dearest daddy it probably smelt like cheese anyway. Or rather, in true Burroughs spirit, if you'd cuddled daddy his crotch would have snapped you up with it's burning teeth of fire whilst wailing banshee screeches, lashing octopus limbs, fire, doom, death. You know, maybe, but daddy just sat in his chair drinking himself to oblivion in a vain attempt to deal with his shitty life and scribbled notes about the price of corn instead.

Part of me wanted to tell him to get over it. And himself. I expected this book to be darker. The book cover with the fork leads one to believe that they should proceed with caution, this kid's childhood is going to be full of violence and neglect and despair. Not that I wanted it to be the case, but it's what I had expected. Instead, it was a patchwork of rather isolated incidents with a young Burrough's furtive imagination fueling the drama. He wasn't physically abused, thankfully, and I well understand that emotional abuse can be ten times worse but it seemed that much of the abuse was implied. A look from daddy, could be three pages of what Burroughs thought the look meant. The dog that became daddy's dark sidekick after several days of young Burroughs' absence - had been magically turned by the dark overlord. Burroughs envisioned the dog having been tortured by electricty, poked with sharp implements ... and so on. The dog was a little nuts; it was likely it was hardly ever fed considering how neurotic and self-obsessed the entire family is. No wonder it was acting out.

The thing that I noticed, was that he nagged his dad a lot and subsequently got ignored. Over and over. His bedroom door was no protection for his dad's fist; which was never used against anyone but was implied (over and over). Every time he called his father 'dead' instead of 'dad', I cringed. I felt like sticking two fingers down my throat and making gagging noises. He googled for missing students near where his father lived. I mean, come on, if that isn't a bloody overactive imagination then what is?!

If this isn't a fine case for why divorce is a must for some people then I don't know what is. Why would these two have even stuck together?! Daddy was a boring, old, bitter man and his hatred and dissatisfaction with his life made him ill and sore and pained. When little kids come along and get in the way of one's misery and navel gazing, they're going to be told to go away. Because who wants to bounce a curly-headed little angel up and down on one's arthritic, swollen knee, whilst petting their head with their flaking, stink-meated fists? Who'd want to subject such a bouncing, bubbly, charming little tyke, such as Burroughs to a mouthful of blackening stumps. The odour of death. Dark wings of Satan flapping all around that gingervitis cavern of gloom. And death. Which kills.

I'm sorry Augusten, I don't know where my love affair with you took a nose dive. I'm pretty sure this book had something to do with it. I'm a little worried that if I re-read your other books, they'll only irritate the shit out of me. WAS I ON CRACK OR SOMETHING WHEN I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE AWESOME?! Or is it more to do with the fact that you are nothing without that humour for which I so loved you in the beginning. I hope your next ~~ten, fifteen~~, fifty memoirs are at least hilarious.

(less)

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tee *face palm*

You do realise that you basically reiterated everything that I said in my own review? Hardly anything that you wrote argues against anythin...more *face palm*

You do realise that you basically reiterated everything that I said in my own review? Hardly anything that you wrote argues against anything that I wrote, whatsoever, so therefore the majority of your retort is redundant.

My entire review is basically about how horrid his father sounded and you spent your entire comment trying to convince me of ... how horrid his father was? Or that he was just a child, something that I was quite aware of. Or that he has a large fan base and is really successful; something that I never refuted and irrelevant to the fact that this was a hyper dramatic memoir? Famous, successful authors can write dud books, it's not uncommon and I'm not alone in with my opinion on this one; in fact, three or four of the most liked reviews on this book are one-star ratings. I couldn't care less if people loved this book, I'm not trying to change their mind because to each their own.

Why do you feel the need to inform me that you think Augusten was the most sane in his family, that his mother and father were insane to begin with - I never said otherwise in my own review? What is this noise you are coming out with, I don't even understand. Yes, his father was really good at putting on a facade in public then being a shitbag at home, big deal. Story of my life, my parents scarred me too, wah wah. I'm glad that you feel that Burroughs writing this "memoir" was a way of him "dealing with it", I hope he too found it cathartic. I just wish he'd kept it in his journal because I suspect that it was done more out of greed for publicity, money and a movie deal than wanting to share his "memories" and using it as a way to heal. My intention wasn't to criticise the guy's childhood, simply his account of it.

I'd loathe to think that when my own children grow up, they'd use my denying them putting food into the shopping trolley as "evidence" of my nastiness as a mother. Burroughs has Special Snowflake syndrome, he seems unaware that a lot of the shit he experienced is what a lot of other people went through as well. And sure, he claims that various other not-so-"normal" things happened but when I read how he exaggerates the rather typical childhood events, I start to lose faith in him as a writer. I feel that by him claiming he had this extraordinarily bad childhood, he's insulting the people in this world who actually had it really bad growing up. It's my right to have doubts about his story's accuracy and to be irritated at his privileged wailing.

Further, my review never implied that Burroughs blatantly made any of this up (merely that he embellished the truth) ... even though there have been allegations made over his memoirs' accuracies with the real Dr Finch claiming that a lot of what Burroughs writes is either fabricated or over-exaggerated. The thing is, from my reading of his book - he had a relatively ordinary childhood and he retold his experience in a theatrical manner. He certainly did tell it from the heart, his wildly-beating pumped-up-with drama heart. That's the problem I suspect, he told it from his heart and not his memory banks. His fabulous imagination certainly helped make it an engaging story, it's just a pity that from reading it that I actually ended up having more pity for his overworked, sick father who probably felt he had to drink in order to deal with his frustrating, unbearable family. He never got to tell his side of the story and in the end, that's the problem - it's only Burroughs' account. An account that I don't trust.

This is all besides the fact that this is a review site. You know, where people review books and state their opinions on why they did or did not like the book. I have read Burroughs' other books and found his biting wit and humour enjoyable, this book lacked that. I found it to be melodramatic and because I have doubts as to how accurate his retelling is, am suspicious of it not being entirely true. It might be based on fact but inflated with drama. It's too easy to take a simple case of an alcoholic, inattentive, uncaring, cranky, eczema-riddled father and turn him into something more. I don't particularly criticise him for that but when someone like yourself takes it upon themselves to ride in on their fanboy steed and defend his honour without even bothering to manage to argue their own points properly, it's irksome. I don't need to wake up and get over myself - you need to make sure that what you're saying holds some weight before hitting the 'post' button.

I'm glad that you felt he did a pretty good job. You're new to Goodreads right? That's what the review part of GR is for, just so you know. Pop your dazzling insights into the little review box and post it, see if I care.

For what it's worth, yes my review was dramatic. That was my intention. Sorry that that went right over your head.(less)
updated Apr 27, 2012 05:37pm

Talyn I thought his book Running with Scissors was good at first.. I have a love/hate relationship with reading true stories of people who are SO dysfunctio...more
May 09, 2012 06:57pm

Jun 29, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, gay-lit

Early this year, I read Augusten Burrough’s bestselling memoir about his dysfunctional family in Running With Scissors (2002). It covers the time that Burroughs spent living in the home of his mother’s therapist. I was enjoying it (after all, Augusten Burroughs ranks #15 in the Top 25 Funniest People in America according to a magazine's survey) until it came to that detailed oral sex scene between him and the other male character towards the end of the book. That threw me off not because I am sq...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Melissa rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had to stop reading this because I was so infuriated by the first chapter. I'm sorry, but there is NO WAY Augusten Burroughs remembers looking at the mobile above his bed when he was not even a year old (and in such detail!), or what the bottle tasted like at that age (or being sad when it was taken out of his mouth!), or that he was thinking the moment his friend got lost at the seaside ("I just assumed he'd never return"... what toddler thinks like that?). After "Running With Scissors," I'm...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 1 of 5 stars

(Today's review is much longer than Goodreads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

I've mentioned here regularly the entire idea of there being an "underground-arts canon;" that is, that just like the academic community, what we call the modern cutting-edge arts has now been around long enough (arguably...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, 2008-read-in

CAVEAT: This book is potentially triggering for survivors of physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse, as well as animal lovers.

I heard Augusten Burroughs said, and I paraphrase, that Running with Scissors was a joyous romp compared with this book. Now that I have read it, I understand why. Running with Scissors does seem like a collection of insouciant anecdotes juxtaposed with the raw, unpolished emotionality that Burroughs unfurls in this narrative.

I've read doubts from others about what in...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Jan Kendrick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Wow.

This is a tough one... A tough review to write, a tough book to read.

Normally I like Burroughs' books, but I am truly torn over this one.

Things I liked: The description, the imagery. I truly FELT (not just UNDERSTOOD) what he was writing. I also liked the way the book flowed. It was chronological for the most part, which made sense, but it wasn't rigid. It wasn't a day-by-day diary of his life. That would've been too much. Finally, I liked the threads he wove throughout the book: his father...more

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May 02, 2008 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

I like Augusten. In this post-Frey Scandal world, it seems anyone who writes memoir has suddenly become suspect and frankly, I resent it. No one ever screamed FRAUD at Truman Capote for fictionalizing his past – well, at least not to his face, I’d imagine. Anyway, much has been made of the fact that the quirky humor that has kind of defined his style thus far is missing from this book (and make no mistake: it is) but then the subject at hand, viz., his alcoholic and possibly psychotic father, do...more

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May 12, 2008 Cat rated it 2 of 5 stars

god, it almost pains me to leave augusten burroughs a shoddy review but im sorry, this book bored me to death.

one of the things i most admire and apriceiate about A.B. is his outstanding humor and wit despite the traumatic events that have shaped his life. this book lacked the humor.

and when you take away the humor, you are left with a husk. a husk filled with crap.

another thing that really drove me mad, were all the seeming contradictions that i am left from all the other books hes written. in...more

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Jul 06, 2008 William Van rated it 4 of 5 stars

Augusten Burroughs is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and it has always puzzled me a bit regarding the debate as to whether or not the events in "Running With Scissors," and now "A Wolf at the Table," are ultimately word for word truth. Given the corroboration from his older brother who has written his own memoir, I would have to say that there is a good chance that much of what Burroughs writes is based on his actual experiences. I suppose if I were a character mentioned by him and fel...more

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May 31, 2008 malic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, queer-stories

this book is terrifying. it's about a little boy who longs for love from his father, who in return psychologically terrorizes him.

This is Burroughs' third full-length memoir, and it takes place mostly before the time Running With Scissors was written about, with a couple of stories that take place in his adulthood. However, I think I would still recommend reading his books in order of when he wrote them.

A Wolf starts with a melodramatic tone, and then Burroughs jumps into his memories of being...more

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Oct 12, 2010 Anita Dalton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-we-own

I think this is a fine book but I have no idea if you should read it or not. If you don’t know what I know, maybe it won’t be worth it to you. Because I think, at its heart, this is less a memoir for me than a book of kinship, a description of what it is like to be small and terrified, held in thrall to a mentally ill and at times despicable parent, to never feel peace, to watch creatures you love die (or in my case disappear entirely without a trace) and have nothing you can do about any of it....more

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May 11, 2008 Mac rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love everything else Augusten Burroughs has written, especially "Dry" and "Sellivision", but this one just didn't seem to be up to his usual standards. As I was reading it,I kept wondering if he got behind deadline for the next book he owed his publisher and came up with this at the last minute. There was also a certain "so what" factor that seemed to permeate the whole concept. His father was a particularly unpleasant person; so what? One of the things that makes AB such a joy to read is his...more

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Nov 23, 2008 Terry rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

I do like Burroughs; I like his essays rather than his sustained writing. I feel like I'm the only one in America who didn't like Running With Scissors. This book...hmm. It's very frightening, and Burroughs as ever is compulsively readable. Yet I was occasionally confused; the jacket copy refers ominously to "the games", but that reference only appears once near the very end of the book and it's never clear what it means, exactly. This, linked with a scene in which Burroughs wakes up in the midd...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Gustine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-books-of-all-time

Wonderful news! I was wrong about Augusten; he has proven beyond a doubt that he did have another award-winning book in him after all. I had declared him utterly finished after his book Magical Thinking, his collection of brief nonfiction essays in which he came across as an animal-hating, child-hating, bitter, angry person with an overly inflated ego. If I remember correctly, that (unfinished) book went into the trash because it wasn’t even fit for library donation. I thought he had nothing els...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Sharon rated it 3 of 5 stars

typical burroughs, except not funny. dude has had a rough life, that's for sure. if you're a fan, read it. If not, skip it, unless you want to feel better by comparison about your own pathological upbringing.

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Dec 28, 2008 Luke rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you've read and enjoyed Burroughs' 'Running With Scissors' then there's really no excuse for not reading 'A Wolf at the Table' - purely because it provides the other half of the story.

Let me clarify. While Burroughs' earlier memoir revealed what a uniquely torturous childhood he'd had, it also presented it in a very John Irving kind of way - horrible, yet camp and darkly fabulous. There were, amongst the freaky parenting and bizarre psychotherapy (wankroom, anyone?) moments of happiness there...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2008

I read Running With Scissors and was alternately horrified and fascinated with the author's life. I read Scissors with a weird detachment, viewing it instead as a fictional memoir, because it was too difficult to read, imagining that what he described actually happened to him.

But, I did enjoy his writing style, the wit, and his sense of humor. I wouldn't describe his books as "funny" but there is a certain dark biting humor to them.

I started out reading this book, already mentally prepared, hav...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Sharon Putman rated it 4 of 5 stars

“I knew I had an ugly life. I knew I was lonely and I was scared. I thought something might be wrong with my father, wrong in the worst possible way. I believed he might contain a pathology of the mind -- an emptiness -- a knocking hollow where his soul should have been. But I also knew that one day, I would grow up. One day, I would be twenty, or thirty, or forty, even fifty and sixty and seventy and eighty and maybe even one hundred years old. And all those years were mine, they belonged to no...more

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Aug 04, 2008 Gabriel rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In regards to the writing: There are some things that an author must do when writing books. These things can not be denied from memoirists either. The key to a good book, one that entertains from start to finish - especially in today's culture - is sympathy for all characters. This was lacking in A Wolf At The Table .

Throughout this, I went through many different possibilities for why this book exists. The first, that we were supposed to feel sorry for Augusten Burroughs. The second, that we...more In regards to the writing: There are some things that an author must do when writing books. These things can not be denied from memoirists either. The key to a good book, one that entertains from start to finish - especially in today's culture - is sympathy for all characters. This was lacking in A Wolf At The Table .

Throughout this, I went through many different possibilities for why this book exists. The first, that we were supposed to feel sorry for Augusten Burroughs. The second, that we were supposed to hate/loathe (and eventually wish dead) his father. Finally, though, I came to what I have determined as the full reason why this book was written. Augusten Burroughs was looking to discharge memories from his mind. He was looking for a way of dealing with pain and turmoil that he had kept with him for his life.

This is a fine reason for writing ... secret diaries. This is not what you write books for publication. In a memoir, the memoirist is in a special position, one of looking back. They can tie together disparate events and find the explanations for all points of view in it. The best memoirs can take these events and - while there is a character that most people will identify and sympathize with - paint them in a picture that is less subjective than normal. ESPECIALLY when dealing with material like this. I needed something to make the father real.

Which is why, in the final chapter, when it is revealed that Augusten Burroughs had his father's diaries IN HIS POSSESSION while writing this, I was very, very let down. I thought that the research he would have needed to go through to get his father's point of view was too much, but no. Augusten Burroughs had it and refused to use it.

In regards to the material: I do not doubt that there are many people out there who have dealt with situations akin to those depicted in this book. I also do not doubt that some of those people find comfort in reading about one man's interpretation of those events; finding a bond, a bosom friend in the process. If you are one of those people, this book might work for you. If you are not, you will have a very hard time believing any of this is real (again, this is due to the lack of development on the father besides two chapters that are not referred to after mentioned).

In regards to the audiobook: The audiobook is an interesting development in terms of this novel. First off, most audiobooks don't have music, this one had both music and small sound effects. Most of the music was incidental music, meant to enhance certain parts of the book. At the end, though, are four original songs (all of them are repeated with the exception of Tegan Quinn's cute "His Love") that show how the book can really affect people. Think of them as the songs for the credits at the end of a movie. These particular songs make for a much better soundtrack than the movie/book ever was. So ... find someone with the audiobook (I am one) and get the songs from them.

Overall: Greatly disappointing, infuriating piece of crap with a great idea for the production of the audiobook. Be wary of this one unless you have personal experience with abuse (namely emotional/mental).(less)

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Aug 16, 2008 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

07/08 Much darker, without the humorous asides. Listening to Augusten read is a little like watching a performance art piece. His speech is very deliberate and slow; at first annoying, I think I can settle into this well. Poignant childhood memories so far.

08/08 Stunning! I am so glad that I listened to this on audiobook rather than reading it. It is compelling, utterly moving, and miraculous. Only afterwards, in a short interview on the final CD did I learn that Augusten's vision for the audio...more

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Aug 01, 2008 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some of the "Average Joe" negative reviews of A Wolf at the Table that I've read online complain that author Augusten Burroughs' "didn't really know what it was like to be abused" or that Burroughs' mental anguish in the hands of his father's quasi-psychotic unpredictability "was boring, same day in day out" or that "it wasn't funny." Wow. What a bunch of self-centered, whiny turds.

A Wolf at The Table is what it is - a simple memoir of a son who spends a lifetime searching for the love of his fa...more

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Aug 02, 2008 Cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: prisoners on death row - should cheer them up!

Shelves: memoir

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 13, 2008 Malbadeen marked it as books-ill-never-read

I recently shared my distaste for Burroughs writing with someone that thinks highly of him. She insisted that if I heard him speak in person my opinion would be diferent. while I'm not willing to pay 27.00 to hear him speak this month, I did listent to this interview:

http://www.apple.com/podcasts/meetthe...

and now not only am I further convinced that his writing is self indulgent, rambalings; insulting in their pointedness but I also think he is:

CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!

and while I feel bad that h...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Leela rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the memoir I read for my independent reading project.
I thought this book was very interesting. I also found it completely frustrating, though. THe entire book put my in a really bad mood, mainly because It was just such a horrible story. It was sad, and I wanted to go in the book myself and help out the poor kid. But I couldn't, and that's what made me mad. It made me mad that nobody realized what was going on inside the house that the kid was staying in and that nobody DID anything abo...more

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Jun 19, 2008 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow this book was dark, very dark. It felt creepy just reading certain chapters. As always, extremely well written on his part. Some of the details were incredibly clear for someone so young and I have read many others challenging that...but in my opinion, it is not my place to judge anothers memory. Everyone is different in terms of what they can recall from childhood, espeically when those events are traumatic. It is amazing what a traumatized child can tell you in detail about things.

Very sa...more

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Jul 31, 2008 Anastasia rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sandra, pamela

Shelves: 2008, memoirbio, non-fiction

What a sad little book. Burroughs' descriptions of trying so hard to get his father's love and attention just broke my heart. I read this in a few hours, but it made me very curious about the rest of his family-- his mother and brother are both authors, too.

I think anyone who is a parent might find this book interesting. Burroughs does a great job of reminding us how even very, very young children feel. His retelling of his childhood feelings about his parents made me ponder how my son will ulti...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Several years ago, I read Augusten Burroughs's memoir Running with Scissors (later turned into a movie). I found it disturbing that he had so much abuse and tragedy in his life, but he seemed intent on minimizing it and just trying to get a laugh. Reviews of the book hailed it as hilarious, and given that it was supposedly true, I found the whole thing profoundly sad. Since then, I have been reluctant to read his other books, but something moved me the other day and I picked this one up. A Wolf...more Several years ago, I read Augusten Burroughs's memoir Running with Scissors (later turned into a movie). I found it disturbing that he had so much abuse and tragedy in his life, but he seemed intent on minimizing it and just trying to get a laugh. Reviews of the book hailed it as hilarious, and given that it was supposedly true, I found the whole thing profoundly sad. Since then, I have been reluctant to read his other books, but something moved me the other day and I picked this one up. A Wolf at the Table focuses on Burroughs's relationship (or lack of) with his father. Burroughs lived with his father until he was about 12 years old and his parents divorced. During those years, Burroughs is brutally honest about the lengths he went to to get his father to notice him and to physically touch or hold him, and the pain he felt at small and frequent realizations that his father did not care one bit about him. Burroughs's father's behavior, however, goes beyond neglect, as he seems to manipulate Augusten and go out of his way to destroy things (and pets) that Augusten loves. As we later learn in Running with Scissors, Augusten's mother herself suffers from profound mental illness, and certainly battered wives' syndrome, and is unable to explain anything to Augusten, though she does go to lengths to protect him from his father's violence. Strangely, Augusten does have an older brother, who remains with his father in the times when Augusten and his mother escape. The sibling relationship is touched upon, but it appears that Augusten has little understanding of who his brother is or why it is okay to leave his brother with their father. I would be quite interested in learning what happened to Augusten's brother and how he viewed and coped with their dysfunctional family. A Wolf at the Table was a much more honest memoir in my mind than Running with Scissors. Burroughs reveals what he thinks he remembers, and is pretty good at reporting his actual feelings at the time, and then providing some hindsight. This is a sad book and is not the witty funny Burroughs as he has come to be portrayed in the literary media. Unlike Running with Scissors, however, this book did make me care about Burroughs as a person, and made me more interested in his later life. Accordingly, I plan to read Dry - his memoir about his struggles with alcohol, and probably reread Running with Scissors with this more informed background.(less)

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Mar 12, 2013 Fuka-chan rated it 4 of 5 stars

First of all, I'm glad I've read Running With Scissors (RWS) first. And if you want to read this book, you better read that one first.

A Wolf at The Table was explained the author's journey, experience and emotions that he felt during his stay with his dad. In RWS, he told the story after his parent split, so there's the difference. Since I've read the book on June 2012, I can't exactly recalled everything, but I remembered what I felt after I finished. I was disgusted and astonished but somehow...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Ann rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

I think I first became aware of Augusten Burroughs on account of an interview on the radio, many years ago, that made him sound like a memoirist or essayist of off-beat topics. So I read Running with Scissors, and I was disturbed more than anything. When I came across Wof at the Table, I read the blurb on the flap, and was intrigued, but remembered my past experience. I waffled then decided to try it anyway. Intriguing with a double helping of disturbing. It is an account of Augusten's life befo...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Kaitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I went through a big phase of reading Augusten Burroughs, I believe right after my discovery of David Sedaris, craving the witty and dry memoir style. When this book was first published, I snatched it right up and read it very quickly, and in doing so was initially fooled thinking it would be Burroughs regular: a dry, witty memoir of stories with bouts of darkness and hostility. This book is very good, but it is not the quintessential Burroughs -- not a ding, just a note for those thinking it wi...more

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About Augusten Burroughs

Augusten Burroughs born Christopher Robison, son of poet and writer Margaret Robison and younger brother of John Elder Robison.

Burroughs has no formal education beyond elementary school. A very successful advertising copywriter for over seventeen years, he was also an alcoholic who nearly drank himself to death in 1999. But spurned by a compulsion he did not understand, Burroughs began to write a...more Augusten Burroughs born Christopher Robison, son of poet and writer Margaret Robison and younger brother of John Elder Robison.

Burroughs has no formal education beyond elementary school. A very successful advertising copywriter for over seventeen years, he was also an alcoholic who nearly drank himself to death in 1999. But spurned by a compulsion he did not understand, Burroughs began to write a novel. Never outlining or consciously structuring the book, Burroughs wrote, "as fast as I could type, to keep up." Seven days later, Augusten Burroughs had written his first book. He had also stopped drinking. The book was published one year later. Burroughs remains sober to this day. And Sellevision stands as Burroughs's only published novel. It is currently in development as a feature film.

Augusten's second book was a memoir. It was also a publishing phenomenon that helped to ignite a kind of memoir fever in America and abroad. Running with Scissors was released in 2001 to virtually unanimous critical acclaim. The memoir would ultimately remain on the New York Times bestseller list for over four consecutive years, eight months of which were spent in the #1 position. The film, starring Annette Benning, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh and Alec Baldwin was released in 2005.

He has since published four additional autobiographical volumes (Dry, Possible Side Effects, Magical Thinking and A Wolf at the Table), all of them bestsellers. Currently published in over thirty countries, Augusten's book readings have become massively popular events on numerous continents. He has also headlined for the most prestigious literary festivals in the world, most recently the 2008 Melbourne writer's Festival, where he and Germaine Greer delivered the keynote addresses on opening night. In addition, Burroughs speaks regularly at colleges and universities on topics ranging from alcoholism and sexual abuse to the art of authoring one's own life and humor as serious medicine.

Twice honored by Entertainment Weekly as one of 25 funniest people in America, Burroughs shocked fans and the media alike with the release of A Wolf at the Table in early 2008. The brutal, terrifying and decidedly unfunny book instantly generated a storm of publicity and controversy. Critics were deeply divided, and the book received some of the worst -and best- reviews of the author's career. The book tour for A Wolf at the Table, spanned some six months and four countries, as Augusten performed for the largest crowds of his career. A Wolf at the Table is Augusten's bestselling hardcover to date.

While critics continue to challenge the veracity of Burroughs's books, questioning everything from his alcoholism and advertising career to his earliest childhood memories, the author remains nonplussed, even philosophical. "To be a journalist with a major American newspaper or magazine, you have to have an A-list college education. And to get into that A-list college, you had to do very well in the right high school. So the chances are, you were not being fucked up the ass at age twelve by a pedophile. The facts of my life are generally questioned by extremely privileged and well-educated people who, more likely than not, learned most of what they know about life's dangerous, shocking and sometimes unbelievable underbelly from books, television and the occasional Quentin Tarrantino film. The reason my books continue to sell, despite frequently being dismissed as "unbelievable," is because the people who read my books recognize the truth that is in them. They know the scent. They have smelled it. The very details the media view with such suspicion are the same details that prove to my reader, this guy was there. I remember that, too."

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Quotes from A Wolf at the Table

“I came to think that maybe God was what you believed in because you needed to feel you weren’t alone. Maybe God was simply that part of yourself that was always there and always strong, even when you were not.” — 178 people liked it

“God, I felt certain, did not mind that I didn’t press my hands together to pray. I was casual, but I was sincere. I knew that God existed as the Correct Answer inside my chest.” — 30 people liked it

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