Monday, June 9, 2008

Running with Scissors


Where do I even begin on this book? Some reviewers describe this as a book of humor. I wouldn't. Although there are moments of irony and the characters sometimes do or say ludicrous things, as a whole it is not a funny story.
This true story covers the years of Augusten's early adolescence when he lives with his mentally ill mother's shrink and a host of other loonies in a large ramshackle house in the 1970s. Augusten's casual yet dramatic voice carries us along as he experiences adulthood thrust upon him too soon - sexual abuse by a pedophile who also resides there, and being encouraged to fake a suicide attempt so he can drop out of school early are only two of the several mind-blowing events. This book was just disturbing and if I wasn't so obsessive about finishing books all the way through I probably would have stopped half way. Very disturbing, and if I were you, I wouldn't go there.

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