Running with Scissors

A Memoir

By: Augusten Burroughs

Narrated by: Augusten Burroughs

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

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 psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain. Suddenly, at age 12, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian in perfect squalor.

The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules, there was no school. The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, and Valium was eaten like Pez. And when things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock therapy machine under the stairs....

Running with Scissors is at turns foul and harrowing, compelling and maniacally funny. But above all, it chronicles 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.

©2002 Augusten Burroughs (P)2002 Audio Renaissance, a Division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Non-Fiction, 2003

"Beautifully written with a finely tuned sense of style...this memoir of a nightmarish youth is both compulsively entertaining and tremendously provocative." (Publishers Weekly)

"Bawdy, outrageous, often hilarious." (The New York Times)

"Sharp, riotous humor...deeply affecting...this is a survival story readers won't forget." (Booklist)

Heart wrenching

What did you like best about Running with Scissors? What did you like least?

I will carry this story with me for a long time. His childhood abuse was so heart wrenching that it made me cry. It is amazing that he could survive this and be able to write about it with humor and brush it off like "eh, it made me who I am today" Good for him for having that ability; I just want to scoop up the child he should have been and hug him.

What could Augusten Burroughs have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Been dealt a different mother.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the piece of $hi! doctor losses his license.

Could you see Running with Scissors being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, please no.

Any additional comments?

My heart goes out to you Austen, you deserved so much better.

Enjoyable

Very interesting story. It could have been depressing read but the way he writes and makes the characters and his personality come to life was very enjoyable.

Interesting look at deviant lives!

This audiobook was recommended by a friend otherwise I am not sure I would have chosen it. I am glad I gave it a listen! It is funny, sad and ironic in turns! I have heard this book is loosely based on the author's life. What a crazy tail! I can definitely say that you will not be able to predict any part of the story!

Crazy, sometimes funny.

After reading 'Dry', I wanted to listen to more from the author. I thought the story was a bit disjointed and find it hard to believe it was made into a movie. Still, the narration is incredibly good and there are enough weird moments to hold your attention. The doctor's signal from the heavenly Father is one of the most unbelievable things I've ever heard. Either this stuff is true or the author is one heck of a creative writer.

overall good listen

while the audio quality for the narration is not the best the story is very entertaining and easy to listen too. Great listen and worth the time.

Great

This book was amazing. I love this author. His messed up life makes mine seem somewhat better. Yet I can relate.

So horrifyingly absurd it can’t help make you laugh and cry.

A fascinating memoir that is a kin to a car wreck on the highway. You just can’t look away.

This is your life…

I’ve been involved in psychiatry since I was a kid. As a patient, even as a child, I knew that psych was complete baloney.
As an adult, I was a licensed psychiatric paraprofessional and saw even more lunacy from these “trained professionals.” I knew that this profession was a scam inside and out.
I read this book and then sent it to my brother. I told my brother, “This is the truth about pop psychology.”
My brother would read then read the book and give me updates on his progress. “This *can’t* be true!” he would exclaim. I would ask him where he was at in the book. My brother would tell me the story he was on and I would say, “Buddy, it gets worse.”
“No way!”
My brother gave me updates with my telling him that things were going to get worse. My brother finally gave up, finished the book, and was horrified that this might be the current state of modern psychology.
“There is only one person on a psych unit that knows who is crazy and who is not,” I told my brother, “And that person is the janitor.”
“And I am the janitor.”

Unusual, entertaining, mildly offensive and superb

Not for the easily offended, this book is crass, bawdy but highly entertaining. The author is so open and honest, sharing frighteningly intimate thoughts and portraying the actions during his pre-teen and teenage years. I had to remind myself many times that this book is a memoir, not fiction. It is so out there, the things that happened in the author's life and the people he is surrounded by that it's almost hard to believe at times, although, I've met some people who aren't too far away from the characters in the book, which make it even more fascinating. The characters are so well developed throughout that you almost know what they look like and can imagine meeting them in real life. This is a book that stays with you for a long time after you read and leaves you wondering. I can't wait to read more from Augusten Burroughs - a fantastic writer.

truth is stranger than fiction....

This is a very enertaining read. Easy to listen to, well narrated and well written. How anyone can live to tell of such a childhood is beyond me. I recommend this for the listener who may have come off of a 'difficult' audio (by difficult I mean something that you have to listen to with a lot of focus or you may miss something) and wants something to breeze through. May not be for everyone because the content can be a little off-putting. (Immoral doctors, childhood sexuality, parents who abandon their kids....)