Running with Scissors: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs
My first knee-jerk reaction to this book and it’s shocking contents was a jaw-dropping oh dear I cannot believe there are real people like this. It was like watching a horrible and bloody accident unfold on the side of the road. You see the blood and body parts splatter on the pavement right before your eyes, and you know the pain and horror of it will traumatize you so you should avert your gaze, and yet you are oddly transfixed it. At the same time reading this is akin to watching a horrible Indie (Independent) film where the deep thinking director and writer tried a little too hard to make their characters off the wall in an attempt to create a “thought provoking” film that just makes you wonder what they were smoking.
It’s made all that much worse and sensational because you know it’s real and that these things did happen and that these sick, twisted, and just plain messed up people did exist and do exist. It’s almost like being a child and having your parents walk up and tell you that, yes the bogey man does exist and would you like to meet him? It’s not something you want to fathom and the true horror of it is the veracity of the tale.
Despite my initial shock and the offensiveness of some of the content I found myself flipping the pages and reading the book in one sitting. Augusten Burroughs has a talent for writing and his own satirical style of writing mixed with this exotic and twisted tale is enough to curl your hair captivate you all in one fell swoop.
I must say this though: this book is not for the faint of heart. Your moral sensibilities will be pushed to their limits and you will be forced to ask yourself painful questions such as: what is wrong with this picture and why does it offend me? I consider myself to be a very open minded person yet even I was left feeling horribly scandalized. Once I recognized what this reaction was I was forced to ask myself why I felt this way. Was I being narrow minded and what basis did I have for my stance on this?
After I had turned the last page in the book and read the prologue there were only three things floating in my mind: 1) That was wrong on so many levels, I cannot believe there really are people like that out there; 2) I really, really love my mom and how she raised me and; 3) I need a drink. No joke, those were my exact reactions and in that order.
So what exactly is Running with Scissors all about? Running with Scissors is the true story of Augusten Burroughs. It chronicles his early years living with his mother and father who were locked in an unhappy marriage and follows the events that lead up until the point he decided to pursue a writing career. Along the way the reader is regaled with tales of his youth living with with his psychotic mother whose “shrink”, and I use that term very loosely, should have been stripped of his license long ago, the escapades he got into while living with the Finches and later when he was legally adopted by his mother’s shrink (Dr. Finch).
Burroughs writes it all out there with no regard for the reader’s tender sensibilities. So if you have qualms reading about a thirteen year old girl being adopted out for money, by her father, to a forty-one year old man who she is sleeping with or a thirteen year old boy involved in a sexual relationship with a pedophile in the family’s own household (with no real objections made mind you) among other things you may want to skip this book. Is there such a thing as having too much freedom? Can it be possible to have so many options available that you actually have no options or opportunities? These are the things that Augusten had to find out for and deal with himself.
Your perception of this world will be forever altered after this read. In all honesty I’m not altogether sure whether I liked this book or rather I disliked it. On one hand the writing style flowed and captivated the audience as much as the shocking content, yet at the same time some of the scenes and incidents both horrified and sickened me. This is one book in which I really had mixed feelings on.
Joana’s review: 
