Running with Scissors: A Memoir 

Running with Scissors: A Memoir 

Author- Augusten Burroughs 

Rating 4/5 

 

  

I don’t know whether I loved the book or hated it. 

I guess I somehow loved and hated it at the same time. 

The belief that nothing could surprise me anymore was shattered to smithereens by this part brilliant, part crazy book. It amuses you, but the very fact that it is so real tears at your heartstrings. 

The situations in which young Burroughs finds himself are dark and sinister. The fragile threads of the author’s lofty ambitions become his only means of escape in a life dotted with milestones like a bipolar mother, an alcoholic father, an unorthodox psychiatrist, child molesters, and people with no moral compass.  

Twisted, bizarre, and totally eccentric, it is a story of survival against all odds.  

Burroughs chooses to wrap the appalling incidents in a shiny sheathe of humor, but this only makes the memoir more harrowing and physical. 

It takes serious writing chops to make a delightful and engaging read from one’s sufferings and sprinkle it generously with the seedy underbelly of white suburban America. 

The book is fast-paced, and I read it till late in the night, even on a weekday. A few hours of sleep and a head full of Burroughs’ words did not make work a pleasant experience the next day. The fact that I haven’t done that in a while says a lot about this book. 

The story is not for the faint-hearted and the easily offended. Do not venture close if you belong to one of these categories. But if you are a little bit of a wild, wandering soul who does not mind trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that, then I would recommend this book. 

You will not be disappointed with this heart-pounding, stomach-churning hell of a roller coaster ride. 

****

Check out the review of other memoirs here:

The Perils of Being Moderately Famous-by Soha Ali Khan  

Running with Scissors: A Memoir 

Unfinished: A Memoir by Priyanka Chopra Jonas

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Read more about Augusten Burroughs.