Current's review

A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2145681.A_Wolf_at_the_Table_A_Memoir?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41yHzBF1XxL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2145681.A_Wolf_at_the_Table_A_Memoir?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3058.Augusten_Burroughs">Augusten Burroughs</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32643958?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 1 of 5 stars This weakly written material is further diminished in its audio-book format by being poorly read by the author, delivered in a repeated meter of slow sentences that remind one of a congregation reading a church litany--everyone talking and pausing in unrealistic fashion so that the whole group can keep up. The further addition of music and sound queues highlight the failure of the language to do what it should--the embellishments themselves becoming irritating.
 
 The book is tightly entwined in its own world, hardly making room for a reader at all--tied continually to emotionally charged events which are presented in a mixed order to simulate what--a mystery? Like cheap movie effects, it is hard to distinguish actual events from the production methods--keep the camera tight, cover lack of action with some spooky emotive music, and don't bother to light anything too well. Why were the narrator's parents such bad parents? Why is the narrator in crisis over them? What is the point of searching through the memories and presenting them--simply self-obsession or an attempt to understand and overcome?
 
 Is the narrator trustworthy? Ignoring whether or not this book is a memoir, the writing gives you the following clues as to the trustworthiness of the narrator. 1) The narrator is emotionally tied to the events described and uses this emotion as the lens through which the events are viewed 2)The narrator indicates that he believes there are missing memories--gaps or lost events. 3) The presentation of the events leaves gaps and shows manipulation indicating that there is a level of contrivance in the telling both to create art, interest the reader, and achieve some kind of arc of plot. 4) The telling is an emotional recreation--a re-living of the memory or a bringing to life of a memory. 5) What are the motives for telling such a story? Hero? Self-agrandizement? Self-healing? Forgiveness? Or simply a desire to show off the wound?
 
 Look at me. I am hurt. You hurt me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. In this world, we don't exist unless we are looked at.
 
 And we are looked at, if we are hurt. 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/803830?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Current's review
rating:

recommended for: someone investigating the psychology of the the confessional
status: Read in September, 2008

This weakly written material is further diminished in its audio-book format by being poorly read by the author, delivered in a repeated meter of slow sentences that remind one of a congregation reading a church litany--everyone talking and pausing in unrealistic fashion so that the whole group can keep up. The further addition of music and sound queues highlight the failure of the language to do what it should--the embellishments themselves becoming irritating.

The book is tightly entwined in its own world, hardly making room for a reader at all--tied continually to emotionally charged events which are presented in a mixed order to simulate what--a mystery? Like cheap movie effects, it is hard to distinguish actual events from the production methods--keep the camera tight, cover lack of action with some spooky emotive music, and don't bother to light anything too well. Why were the narrator's parents such bad parents? Why is the narrator in crisis over them? What is the point o...more This weakly written material is further diminished in its audio-book format by being poorly read by the author, delivered in a repeated meter of slow sentences that remind one of a congregation reading a church litany--everyone talking and pausing in unrealistic fashion so that the whole group can keep up. The further addition of music and sound queues highlight the failure of the language to do what it should--the embellishments themselves becoming irritating.

The book is tightly entwined in its own world, hardly making room for a reader at all--tied continually to emotionally charged events which are presented in a mixed order to simulate what--a mystery? Like cheap movie effects, it is hard to distinguish actual events from the production methods--keep the camera tight, cover lack of action with some spooky emotive music, and don't bother to light anything too well. Why were the narrator's parents such bad parents? Why is the narrator in crisis over them? What is the point of searching through the memories and presenting them--simply self-obsession or an attempt to understand and overcome?

Is the narrator trustworthy? Ignoring whether or not this book is a memoir, the writing gives you the following clues as to the trustworthiness of the narrator. 1) The narrator is emotionally tied to the events described and uses this emotion as the lens through which the events are viewed 2)The narrator indicates that he believes there are missing memories--gaps or lost events. 3) The presentation of the events leaves gaps and shows manipulation indicating that there is a level of contrivance in the telling both to create art, interest the reader, and achieve some kind of arc of plot. 4) The telling is an emotional recreation--a re-living of the memory or a bringing to life of a memory. 5) What are the motives for telling such a story? Hero? Self-agrandizement? Self-healing? Forgiveness? Or simply a desire to show off the wound?

Look at me. I am hurt. You hurt me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. In this world, we don't exist unless we are looked at.

And we are looked at, if we are hurt.
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