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Running with Scissors: A Memoir

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor?s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy?s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances?

 
Running with Scissors Acknowledgments
Gratitude doesn?t begin to describe it: Jennifer Enderlin, Christopher Schelling, John Murphy, Gregg Sullivan, Kim Cardascia, Michael Storrings, and everyone at St. Martin?s Press. Thank you: Lawrence David, Suzanne Finnamore, Robert Rodi, Bret Easton Ellis, Jon Pepoon, Lee Lodes, Jeff Soares, Kevin Weidenbacher, Lynda Pearson, Lona Walburn, Lori Greenburg, John DePretis, and Sheila Cobb. I would also like to express my appreciation to my mother and father for, no matter how inadvertently, giving me such a memorable childhood. Additionally, I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events described in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent, and hard-working people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of Running with Scissors. Most of all, I would like to thank my brother for demonstrating, by example, the importance of being wholly unique.
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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jan-21-2009

Hilarious and touching

Is this fiction? Is this memoir? I am not sure. I write this review years after reading the book, and know that all that matters to me today is that I thoroughly enjoyed Burroughs book. His later works suffer by comparison, but "Running" is well worth the time.Highly recommended!

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jan-20-2009

And you thought your childhood was weird!

Running With Scissors tells the story of Augusten Burroughs quest for survival in an unorthodox family. Oh, yes, and he also has a quest for fabulous hair. The story is set in the late 1970s and early '80s when the baby boomers' flaccid if-it-feels-good-do-it ethos soured. "My parents loathed...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jan-02-2009

READER BEWARE! LITERARY TRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off let me state that the first half of this book was well written. When you get to the middle of the book it goes straight downhill. I really didn't need to experience the vivid details of his first gay experience. I don't care in what fashion it has to do with this bizarre story, and if...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-28-2008

A great start in your Burroughs obsession.

This was a great memoir. My first Augusten Burroughs read AND memoir. Strange, witty, and sometimes uncomfortable to read, but all around enjoyable. The ending did upset me a bit... and please, STAY AWAY FROM THE MOVIE!

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-26-2008

about the worst book I have read during 2008, NO, I did not even finish it.

I tried to read it, I gave it a good shot but.... it's total trash.nothing funny about it, plain trash.I wish I could get my money back.I just threw the book in the ...... TRASH !don't buy it, don't read it.Hans Muellers

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-24-2008

Creepy Yet Humorous

The childhood of Augusten Burrough's is for lack of a better word disturbing. The writer's tone is quite interesting and enjoyable. Considering how the book is a memoir written about the authors youth it can become extremely gruesome especially the homosexual love scenes between the teenager and...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-18-2008

An Attention Grabber!

While reading this book I was taken aback by certain events that took place, I think to appreciate this book you have to have the type of personality that is easy going and you definitely have to have a warped sense of humor. I really enjoyed this book, it was funny and appalling at the same...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-13-2008

Embarrasingly shallow, immature, and fabricated...

There seems to be a very disturbing trend in memoir-writing where the modus operandi isn't to recount one's life and experiences so much as to fire loaded mental cannons chock-full of wildly exaggerated and fictionlized "events". Thus, the memoir's goal isn't to inform, but to shock. Not to...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-01-2008

Running with Scissors: A Memoir

I loved this book. I have read it numerous times and I still Laugh my butt off. Way better than the movie, but the movie does hold it's own. I look forward to reading this book for years to come.

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Nov-10-2008

Wonderful read for good laughs

A little awkward during some sections, but funny/ witty throughout its entirety. If you like reading about things that seem crazy, this is a MUST read for you.

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