Running with Scissors

Title: Running with Scissors

Author: Augusten Burroughs

Pages: 7 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: Augusten's parents go through a messy divorce when he is around 10-years-old. He remains with his mother, but is eventually pawned off onto his mother's psychiatrist, Dr. Finch. Augusten moves in with the Finches and is given every freedom that a teenager could want. Dr. Finch believes that a child reaches full maturity at 13 and that from that point on, no adult can tell him or her what to do. As such, Augusten quits going to school and just spends all his time with Natalie Finch or with his 31-year-old boyfriend. Dr. Finch is an eccentric who believes that God can talk to him through his excrement and nobody in the household feels any responsibility of cleaning up.

My Review: I enjoyed this memoir. I felt that it was very honest and heartfelt, and if I had grown up under similar circumstances, then I would have probably written a memoir as well. Augusten makes the very interesting point, that although they had every freedom and could essentially do whatever they wanted, they felt trapped and boxed in.

Disclaimer: The language in the book is slightly foul and there are a couple instances in which gay sex acts are described in more detail than may be comfortable.