Running with Scissors By Augusten Burroughs

Reviewed by Kaete O'Connell

Click the photo to purchase Running With Scissors

There have been numerous memoirs and autobiographies published that leave one with a sense of awe and admiration for the writer. You are astounded by what they endured and are often left with a different outlook of your own life. In Augusten Burroughs' memoir Running with Scissors , this is truly the case.

As a child Burroughs endured the pains of a broken home, with an absent elder brother and parents that fought bitterly. What makes his case so unusual is the solution sought by his eccentric mother, who after the divorce signs custody of Burroughs away to her shrink. If his home life was difficult before, it had now crossed the line to absurd. At the age of twelve, Burroughs moves into the psychiatrist's home that is literally falling apart around him. Dr. Finch's family proves just as quirky and unorthodox as he is, but Burroughs soon finds a companion in Finch's daughter Natalie. Slowly, he allows himself to be swallowed up by the free spirits of the Finch household, while coming to terms with his own issues of family life, protracted by frequent visits with his clearly unstable mother. He also learns to accept his own sexuality as he develops a relationship with Neil Bookman, another of Dr. Finch's unstable patients.

This memoir can easily be mistaken for a coming-of-age novel. It's a story of survival and an adolescent's attempts to make some sense of the world around him. Anyone can relate to the feelings of despair and confusion felt by Burroughs. However, it is the oddities coupled with the angst that make for a memorable read. The humor comes from the awkward situations Burroughs finds himself in and his understanding of them in a larger context. There are several graphic scenes depicted in the book that many readers may find objectionable, but without them, the book would loose its intensity and drive.

There are times when reading this book that you forget it is a memoir based on the author's real life experiences. The intensity of several scenes may be objectionable to some, as well as the profanity. However if you don't mind the quirky side of life and desire an entertaining story that will keep you ‘running' to find what happens next, this is perfect.