Running with Scissors: A Memoir

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It's a hit!

From the first page to the last, nothing -- and I do mean NOTHING -- is normal. Every sentence is a surprise and is usually accompanied with a guff... (show more)

From the first page to the last, nothing -- and I do mean NOTHING -- is normal. Every sentence is a surprise and is usually accompanied with a guffaw, tear or gag.
Hilarious and horrifying in turns, this book rocketed to the top of my list of must reads. Mind you --- this is not for the squeamish, judgmental or homophobic. But if you have a sense of humor, then PLEASE read this.
Most impressive about this book is the author's ability to narrate as his 13-year-old self. Through this teen's eyes, readers face such topics as rape, mental illness and sexuality. Page after page, you are sucked into this child's description, enjoying his mature sense of humor. And then, suddenly, you are not laughing anymore. You are crying for him. Then, just as suddenly, you are chuckling again.
An absolutely refreshing, wonderful read -- honest and real without any sense of self-pity. More memoirs should be just this. (show less)

 

 

by Bekah Porter-Sandy

No, it's a flop!

There's a line in the book that fairly well sum's up his childhood and the crux (if there is one) of the book: "The problem with not having anybod... (show more)

There's a line in the book that fairly well sum's up his childhood and the crux (if there is one) of the book: "The problem with not having anybody to tell you what to do, I understood, is that there was nobody to tell you what NOT to do."

It's supposed to be funny... I found few truly humorous passages within it. It's supposed to be true... surely it is also truly "Hollywoodized" in places. I'm not saying he didn't live a dysfunctional life and have some very extraordinarily dysfunctional experiences. I'm saying he embellished them in some places.

It strikes me the author is trying to make sense of a childhood that will never make sense. And in that Burroughs succeeds. He lets us see into the chaos of abuse and neglect that is the reality of some children's daily lives, and to feel (or at least imagine) some of the intellectual and emotional rebellion, ambivalence, fear, loneliness, hatred, need, numbness, isolation, lostness...chaos.

Rather than explain it in nice language with pretty metaphors and statistics that don't touch us, or beg our understanding with self-pitying and poetic darkness, he chooses to put his childhood before us the way it came to him - crassly, crudely, shocking, and stark. (show less)

 

 

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  Burroughs tells the story of a childhood less ordinary: mother gone crazy, father a dangerous drunk, living 5 years with the family of the mother's psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is more than a little crazy himself and the whole family follows his example.

  The book is a chain of events, absurd stories, insane stories, sometimes bordering on the disgusting. Finding god in shit, ripping out the ceiling to have a cathedral kitchen, faking a suicide attempt to get out of school and throwing m... (show more)

  Burroughs tells the story of a childhood less ordinary: mother gone crazy, father a dangerous drunk, living 5 years with the family of the mother's psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is more than a little crazy himself and the whole family follows his example.

  The book is a chain of events, absurd stories, insane stories, sometimes bordering on the disgusting. Finding god in shit, ripping out the ceiling to have a cathedral kitchen, faking a suicide attempt to get out of school and throwing motel furniture into a pool are the harmless stories. Statuary rape, mild bestiality, drug abuse, psychotic episodes and attempted rape are the darker moments. All of this is mixed together, creating a completely dysfunctional childhood. Considering the stories that are told one could expect an exiting book. It isn't. It's rather calm, an attempt to make sense out of chaos and to find yourself.

  It has all the ingredients to be a great book but I couldn't bring myself to like it. The characters left me cold, I didn't care about them and if I felt something towards them it was the urge to slap them around. The style was rather ordinary with few great lines and some short scenes that made me chuckle. All in all the book really didn't fulfill my expectations. (show less)

   

  by Facebook-gebruiker on Feb 05, 2009 at 01:22AM

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  This book was very different. As I read it, I felt so bad for the guy, but at the same time, I wanted more disturbing things to happen to him. It made me appreciate my life and my family.

   

   

  by Claire Leslie on Aug 01, 2008 at 06:28PM

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