
Running with Scissors
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Augusten Burroughs
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 LLCListeners also enjoyed...




















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)
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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.Heart wrenching
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Enjoyable
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Interesting look at deviant lives!
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Crazy, sometimes funny.
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overall good listen
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Great
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So horrifyingly absurd it can’t help make you laugh and cry.
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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.”
This is your life…
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Unusual, entertaining, mildly offensive and superb
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truth is stranger than fiction....
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