Running with Scissors in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 06, 2007 Ashley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoirs

This is a good and wierd book. Its about the author and how he grew up. His mother gave him up for adoption when he was like 12 to her psychologist. The psychologist's office is wierd because he has an extra room called "The Masturbatorium" . He gives out valium like its candy, he resembles santa claus, and he's cheating on his wife with three other women. Weird but a good read. ...more

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Jun 20, 2008 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: humor, memoir-and-autobiographical-essays, did-not-finish

So it turns out I don't really like Augusten Burroughs as much as I thought I did. The shorter essays & articles I'd read by him lead me to expect a dry, quirky wit in this memoir. Instead it's just ... dry ... and boring. A kid obsesses about a heater. Maybe it gets better, but I just haven't been motivated to find out. Setting this one aside for now ... ...more

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Mar 01, 2011 mstan rated it liked it

Shelves: american, non-fiction, memoir, src-summer-2011

What a disgustingly messed up life. I almost felt like puking as I read about some of the things Burroughs had to experience. He writes graphically about the squalor of his mother's psychiatrist's house (with the dog pooping on the floor and the roof caving in) as well as sex. Nothing/ nobody is pretty or loving in this book. I continued reading because, frankly speaking, I couldn't quite look away from the car crash of their various existences.

Then I read that the psychiatrist's family had sued ...more

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