Book Reviews of Running with Scissors : A Memoir

Seriously this was one of the WORST books I ever read. No, wait, I can't even say that because I couldn't finish it.

A co-worker gave it to me to read and in 2 days I gave it back to her. Told her that if it was my book I would have thrown it in the trash! I love reading dark humor and almost nothing bothers me....but this??????

Don't waste your time with this. I can't even believe that there are any actors out there who would read the script to this and think "Hey I want to be in that movie". It is pure trash.

Mr. Burroughs has another book that just came out to the bookstores....you can bet that I won't be picking up that one!

I don't think it's fair to write this book off due to "ick" factor.

It's a memoir. This is someone's life. Augusten Burroughs presents an era of his life, the way he perceived it at the time. If you read his later work, you understand that he views the time period that spans the length of this particular book to be a series of very bizarre experiences that he does not consider normal.

But that's the beauty of Running with Scissors. It's the story of a young man who is thrown into the oddest of situations, some of which, yes, are incredibly disturbing. But, as in all of his work, it's Burroughs's dark sense of humor that carries through.

I always enjoy books were I am reminded that my childhood was not as unusual as other people. This memoir is a candid collection of stories about a mother with mental illness, an alcoholic father and the Finch's. It never ceases to amaze me what happens behind closed doors!

ick. just ick. dont waste your credit or your time.

The Book is ten times better than the movie. The writting itself is excellent! I was less than thrilled with the movie,it didn't protray the chacters as well as the book does.You either love Augusten Burroughs or hate him, because of his in you'r face type of writting .

I hated it - but maybe you won't...

The book was well written and very easy to read. What an unbelievable and bizarre life the author had. Some people may find this book offensive due to the language and content.
I did enjoy the book

This book is a work of riveting and disturbing genius. Not for the faint of heart, it is the story of a boy who is lost in a world where his mother would give him to her phsychiatrist so she can focus all of her attention on herself. If this book were a piece of fiction, it would be ludicrous and demented, but the fact it is truth and the author writes so eloquently about such a painful time in his life shows its tremendous merit. Many of the details are graphic and distasteful, but the overall weakness in the characters thought to be strong and the strength on the characters thought to be weak demonstrates what complex creatures humans are. I loved this book, if for no ther reason then it made me appreciate my mother and family on a whole new level. I could not put it down!

I thought this book was terrible, and really resented the person who compared it to any of the writings of David Sedaris. However, I know that other people have liked it, so here it is.

A very quick read...a very disturbing childhood.

It is sad that someone had to go through this kind of a childhood. The situations are so bizarre that they are funny.

Hysterical, dark humor. I was disturbed only because I know it has to be true. No one could make up a childhood so sad and twisted if they tried. For what he's been through Augusten Burroughs deserves to make money off it!

The first chapter was a little slow, after that I really got into it. Haven't seen the movie yet.

Brilliant!

There is a part of me that is horrified at the subject matter of mental illness and the whole story is a little nuts. However, it is a quick and hilarious read in a twisted way that I did find entertaining. Well worth reading.

Gripping and humorous tale of a dysfunctional childhood. The only part I didn't like was the two-page epilogue.

Like watching a train wreck. You're embarrassed to be so transfixed by another's disaster. This story is by turns hysterical, unbelievable, sad and heart-breaking. It will make you appreciate whatever kind of dysfunctional childhood you thought you had.

I was able to finish the book, although I didn't take much from it. It was quite strange. But, the views on it are mixed, and some people might like it.

A memoir that's makes most disfunctional families look like Father Knows Best. The author handles some horrifying experiences and characters with hilarity and pathos.

A quick read; humerous, but not a "laugh out loud" book; some gross parts. Based on the book, I have no interest in seeing the movie.

It is hard to believe someone can come out of this harrowing childhood and come out even marginally functional, let alone successful is a miracle. It just proves how resilient children can be.

Good book, just not to my liking. Some great moments of humor though!!! Good condition-read once.

To say that Augusten Burroughs had an unusual childhood would be an understatement. His eccentric mother -- a poet -- left him in the care of her shrink, a man who might have benefitted from a little therapy himself. Somehow, Augusten survived, and the result is this memoir, one both horrifying and hysterical.

These people make me feel normal.

I absolutely HATED this book. I was in the hospital and this was in the gift shoppe so my husband got it for me... and I was SHOCKED by the contents. It is graphic and unbelievably awful. I can't believe it is an autobiography. Horrifying. You've been warned.

A review on the back of this book called it "wickedly, ridiculously funny." Call me a bore, but I found nothing funny about the author describing, with wry sarcasm, his boyhood rape and subsequent relationship with his abuser. Nor did I find "hilarious" his growing up in a home filled with such mental illness that his surrogate father has his children remove his own excrement from the toilet. Be warned that this is the comedic version of A Child Called It.

I hated this book. Oh, well.

Brilliantly written, must read, and re-read! I wasn't sure what I was getting into from the start, but found myself unable to put it down.

Augusten Burroughs has the gift of presenting us with depravity and dysfunction, and pulling out the beautiful and hilarious. A great memoir from a new author with an incredibly unique voice.

Was funny and tragic. The writer has a gift with words, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Bizarre non-fiction story of a young teen whose alcoholic father and psychotic mother abandoned their parental responsibilities and placed the narrator in the home of a "therapist" who seems to have been more disturbed than most of his patients.

Good book, but the characters are ODD

This memoir is hilarious and fascinating. If everything really happened to this guy, then it's pretty amazing. Some of it seems kind of implausable, but I liked this book!

Yes, I realize it is a story of a totally disfunctional family, and I tried to make it through the book. The humor kept me going, but some of the situations were just so bizarre that I could not handle reading more than half of the book. I can't wait to see who orders this book from me. I dare you to make it through the entire story. If you do, you can tell me how it ends!!

not what I expected - I bought the book because I read it was funny, it is funny but also very crude and disgustingly descriptive in places. Even so the story is really well written and very good. By the time I got to the last chapter I was sad it ended & wanted to read more... so I'm getting the next book. It's the first true story I've read about a life so bad - come across almost as normal. He makes the worst situations seem so comical you want to cheer him on, not pity him.

I loved this book. It is much better and goes into alot better detail than the movie. I find it amazing that a person can go through a hellish childhood like that and come out "ok". I am looking forward to reading more works by Augusten Burroughs.

I echo "penguin" -- ick.

This book is very entertaining until you stop and realize that it is not fictional. Then it becomes deeply disturbing.

The Title caught my eye, as my grandmother always told me not to run with scissors. This clever writer gives us a good,easy read.

Pretty good book. This writer is compared to David Sedaris, but I definitely don't agree. The book is clever and easy to read, but it made me feel sad, if this story is true, this person has lived a very sad life.

Fun to read either before or after reading the Vanity Fair expose on who August Burroughs and the family really are....

I really enjoyed this book. Some of the stuff this boy lived through is so crazy you really wish it were fiction.

memoir of an unusual childhood - interesting to see how they turn it into a movie

Disturbing yet excellent. . .

This book was definetly weird but really funny

Hillarious pitch-black humor.

The kindest thing I can say about this book is that it is "odd". There are pretty graphic and abusive scenes in the book that made me feel "icky" while reading. I'm not sure how anyone could survive this type of upbringing and it was difficult for me to read about it.

Memoirs of a gay child spending his formative years in a hosehold of misfits overseen by his mothers shrink who believes children are free to make their own choices at 13. Just imagine the chaos!

Like a trainwreck, but a funny one..I couldn't stop reading.

Funny but a little too much seemingly gratuitous raunch for me.

Great book. a little on the dark side, but all for a purpose.

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