2.5/3. this was hilarious and I’m a lover of dry humour but some of it felt disjointed. regardless burroughs has had such an interesting upbringing that at points it’s hard to believe that any of it actually happened

This book made me want to write. Laughed out loud. Many times.

How many messed up experiences can one man have in a lifetime?! Not even a lifetime really because he still has many years to live! I am so glad Augusten Burroughs has decided to write and share his stories with the world, because they truely are hilarious! At times, I was reading and doubted the truth behind the stories because they seemed so ridiculous and off the wall! But sure enough, this man lived them and survived to share with us! And I'm glad he did, because they have me laughing out loud, and not many books can do that! This book started out with what has to be my favorite story I've read from him and it is one about how the tooth fairy isn't something good and happy. It, in fact, is a tiny being that steals your teeth maliciously and it struck fear into Augusten's heart. I loved it! Definately give this book a read!

This is not the side-slitting, gasping-for-air, hysterical laugh-crying at the hilarious wrongness of RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. But it's a great palate-cleanser after RUNNING: I grew to love the little dude, and I'm just glad Augusten has lived to tell the tale(s).

This is a collection of brief pieces, mostly featuring the adult Augusten in moments of self-awareness and dot-connecting. His love for his partner and his disgusting bulldogs is touching, but I liked this collection best at its most observational-- his building anxiety and dread over getting locked out of his apartment, and his alcoholic depresso-den being exposed to the world when the locksmith finally opens the door; his feverish addiction to nicotine gum; his horror of staying at a b&b packed with creepy dolls; his hilarious justification of his theft of a Harvard t-shirt. This is more funny "heh" than funny "oh sweet jesus help me," but I liked it, because I like him.

The standout for me was "Mint Threshold," a war story from his days as an ad writer.

I don't much like this guy, didn't really like him when I first met him whining away about his (admittedly) horrendous upbringing in RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, and even less after listening to his voice for 8 full CDs. Yes, there are some funny lines. Yes, there are some funny situations. Yes, he has gained mastery over the English language and the memoirish story-form. I just don't like him much. It's not that he's self-centered, neurotic, and a drunk (recovering). That pretty much describes me, and I don't want this to be about me. It's just that I just don't like him, and I've found after reading thousands of books, it's difficult for me to like a book if I can't at least root for the protagonist, which, in this case, is a guy I'd as soon go away. Soon.

Audiobook version a must...laugh out loud funny.

The snobbery that made "Running with Scissors" & "Dry" ever so memorable & unique is dispersed, often in gigantic dollops, within these memoirs that are often so much like the musings of a child: i.e. Inconsequential. The tee-hee anecdotes vary from physical ailments and childhood misunderstandings, to newer first world traumas (no need for that) and--my favorites--additional stories, unexpected returns to Burrough's first (but better) memoir, of his demented mother.

In case you didn't know, this, along with "Magical Thinking", is a book of short stories. ("Magical Thinking" received better reviews on both goodreads.com but the same rating on Amazon. I'll read MT sometime soon and you'll probably see a comparison in that review.)

Not as good as Dry or Running With Scissors, but it's a quick read. I wouldn't recommend reading them all (unless you're just completely bored). Here is what I'd consider "required" and "optional" reading. (Not all of the stories are listed below).

*** I've tried to place them in the order that I liked them.

Required Reading:

Try Our New Single Black Mother Menu ("So if McDonald's is for blacks, what's for whites?"), Moving Violations ("I would then hold the picture against the window and Debby would either speed up to pass the offending car, or she would slow down so they could get a good look. The images were all hardcore pornography."), Mrs. Chang ("It was because of Mrs. Chang that I spent my childhood secure in the knowledge that Santa Claus as Chinese."), Bloody Sunday ("We are obsessed with sex in an unnatural way."), Killing John Updike ("But that's what happens when you die. The vultures come. Sometimes, even before you die."), GWF Seeks SAME ("'What does a lesbian bring on a second date?' Christy was fond of saying. 'A moving van.'"), Kitty, Kitty ("And then I thought, maybe seeing for myself means something, makes a difference."), You've Come a Long Way, Baby! ("What if in the future I met somebody that I thought was glamorous and exciting and they smoked? If it ever became necessary for me to begin, I'd better be damn ready and already know my brand."), Little Crucifixions ("I could lie to my parents because I felt that they were only temporary. I constantly felt on loan to them and overdue to be returned."), Julia's Child ("My mother engaged Julia Child as my babysitter. In the form of a public television cooking series on WGBH, our local PBS station.")

Optional:

Getting to No You ("When you begin discussing toilet intimacies on the first date, you have failed the first date."), Taking Tests, Taking Things ("A truant teenager loitering outside a movie theater is going to be far more motivated to return to school when he has the barrel of a .45 pressed against his cheek."), Pest Control ("Although my parents never attended church or mentioned Jesus except when they screamed at each other - and then they used his full name, 'Jesus Fucking Christ' - they did explain that he was a man who lived in the sky and granted wishes to certain people. People he liked."), The Georgia Thumper ("Like every child, I adored her. Until I formed a brain and got to know her.")

Run Along, Lil Chillens! Git back to work...

Burroughs is endlessly cleaver, humorous, and interesting. I would love to just sit and listen to him tell stories about his average-joe lifestyle.
Easily one of the best contemporary authors in my opinion.

Like reaching past the Harvest Wheat and grabbing the Coco Puffs and loving it.

Got this from my brother. Was expecting drinking stories and other shit like that. I got something a bit more heartfelt, nice memoirs of the life of an alcoholic homosexual man working in advertising. Many things I could relate with, also some nice peeks into somebody's life that is very different from mine. New York, LGBT scene, alcoholism...
Also, kinda badly written. But so pure that it doesn't matter.

This is the first of Augusten Burroughs' books that I've read and it will be the last. In fact, I didn't even finish it. I give a single star to most books I don't choose to finish, but I do have to give this book credit for making me laugh out loud at least once during the sections I did read.

Mr. Burrough's style and tone--and even subject matter--are similar to those of David Sedaris, whose work I enjoy. But this book just left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sorry to say this, but I think I would really dislike Mr. Burroughs if we met in person. The stories of his personal life reflect poorly on him. He is purposely cruel to people he doesn't like; he steals things he wants. His writing style is clever and easy to read, but I didn't enjoy my time with this book.