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Overview
A contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. A different kind of "roof work." Dating an undertaker who drives a mini-van. This is the fabric of Augusten Burroughs's life: a collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate, stories that shine a flashlight into both dark and hilarious places.Synopsis
Praise for Augusten Burroughs
"A wrenching, edifying journey...with the added benefit of being really entertaining."
- The New York Times Book Review on Dry
"Beneath the quick-flowing, funny-sad surface of Burroughs's prose lurks considerable complexity."
- Time on Dry
"A great read."
- Chicago Sun-Times on Dry
"Dry is more than a heartbreaking tale; it's a heroic one."
- People on Dry
"Laughter on the road to sobriety...for aficionados of outrageous black comedy."
- The New York Times on Dry
"Bawdy, outrageous...insanely funny (quite literally)...a William Burroughs situation comedy."
- The New York Times on Running with Scissors
"Running with Scissors, as a memoir in the current conventional sense, makes a good run at blowing every other contender out of the water."
- The Washington Post on Running with Scissors
"Outrageously amusing...wait until you get a load of this guy's material.... He can consider this a fan letter. Grade A."
- Entertainment Weekly on Running with Scissors
"As funny as it is twisted."
- GQ on Running with Scissors
Publishers Weekly
It would be tempting to call these highly personal and uninhibited essays painfully honest, except that Burroughs (Running with Scissors; Dry) is so forthright about his egocentricity that the revelations don't appear to cause him much pain. He approaches his material with a blithe tone that oozes sarcasm and crocodile tears. But the palpable humor of the writing itself endears listeners to him enough that they won't be completely repelled by even Burroughs's ugliest moments (which include his less than gallant reaction to accidentally stepping on a toddler's fingers in a store). His performance is off the cuff, but even when he's at his least humane, he still comes across as all too human. He adopts the same openness that made his previous memoirs-dealing with his bizarre upbringing and battle with addiction-so successful; now, however, he's focusing on less serious subject matter and displaying failings that are more vain. Burroughs excels in his personifications of others, whether portraying a domineering cleaning woman or an overbearing boss. While some may secretly wish for the death of such a boss, though, Burroughs admits openly and proudly that he believes he can will it to happen. That attitude, which is accentuated by his reading, makes this audiobook a true guilty pleasure. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Forecasts, July 12). (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Augusten Burroughs is always prepared for the worst. When Running with Scissors came out, he expected it to sell "about seven copies." Instead, this meandering self-exploration turned into a national bestseller. Even Burroughs gained optimism: "It was just great. It allowed me to continue writing and not have to publish myself at Kinko's." By the evidence of Magical Thinking, Kinko's has permanently lost a client and we have gained an engaging author. Burroughs himself describes these true stories as "weird things that have happened to me." The weird things include an epic contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady; a story about the emotional complexity of rodent annihilation; and a cautionary history of failed first dates. Touching; twisted; absolutely magical.From the Publisher
"One of the most compelling and screamingly funny voices of the new century belongs to Augusten Burroughs. . . . Burroughs is blessed with an offbeat perspective and a viciously uncensored wit, a delight to read."--USA Today
"Augusten Burroughs shows why he is the memoirist-of-the-moment with his harrowing and laugh-out-loud new essay collection, Magical Thinking."--Vanity Fair
"Ruthlessly funny . . . deliciously perverse . . . he extracts something funny from every shred of his own warped experience. Magical Thinking indeed."--People(four stars)
"Sports nuts have Dave Barry, Midwesterners have Garrison Keillor, and the rest of us--gay guys, misfits, those with horrific childhoods--have Burroughs.…He hooks you into a story better than anybody."--Entertainment Weekly(A-)
"Every so often a 'writer's writer' pops up and deliciously ambushes readers--writers like David Sedaris, Larry Brown, and Frank McCourt. . . . Augusten Burroughs deserves membership to this inner circle. . . . Magical Thinking is finely-honed and addicting . . . Miraculous."--Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
"Deeply satisfying, full of both gleeful one-liners and shocking instances of profound wisdom . . . There are few writers as outrageously magical or as surprisingly thoughtful as Augusten Burroughs."--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"A literary favorite--right up there with humorists David Sedaris and Laurie Notaro . . . Fascinating."--Boston Herald
"Superlatively disturbed . . . A brand-new collection of deliciously lurid true tales…offer[s] an irresistible display of sanity hanging by a thread."--Booklist(starred review)
"Still wild, sad, funny, tender, and frightening . . . It's all about the journey. Do go along. Just be sure to pack some tissues for the laughing and the crying."--The Seattle Times