Featured Reading Guide
Augusten Burroughs
From the author: ‘My father doesn’t feature much in Running with Scissors . And one of the reasons for this is because he didn’t feature much in my life. But there’s another reason, too: Our relationship was so complicated, so dark, so confusing and so big, that to tell the story would require a book. So finally, upon the death of my father in 2005, I decided to tell the story I have been most afraid yet most compelled to tell.’ This prequel to international hit Running With Scissors tells the story of Augusten’s relationship with his tormented father: a man who sent his wife mad and saw his…
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Augusten Burroughs was born and raised in Western Massachusetts. His first memoir, Running with Scissors remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over four consecutive years and was made into a film in October 2006. He is also the author of Dry (2003), Magical Thinking: True Stories (2004) and Possible Side Effects (2006), and Sellevision (2000) all of which were instant bestsellers both in hardcover and paperback.
topAbout the Book
From the author: ‘My father doesn’t feature much in Running with Scissors . And one of the reasons for this is because he didn’t feature much in my life. But there’s another reason, too: Our relationship was so complicated, so dark, so confusing and so big, that to tell the story would require a book. So finally, upon the death of my father in 2005, I decided to tell the story I have been most afraid yet most compelled to tell.’ This prequel to international hit Running With Scissors tells the story of Augusten’s relationship with his tormented father: a man who sent his wife mad and saw his other son run away from home, prior to Augusten going into foster care. Harrowing, insightful and amusing by turns.
topStarting Points for Discussion
- ‘These fragments are all that remain of my early childhood’ (4)…‘Fragments of hate, that’s all I could hear.’ (136) – How important is Burroughs’ awareness that he is writing in hindsight using fragmented memory? Is his narration reliable? Does it affect the poignancy of the story if it is a blend of fiction and reality?
- Burroughs’ imagery focuses on sensory details, particularly touch, smell, and the difference between being awake and asleep. Why does he do this?
- Burroughs places great importance on his father’s possessions and obsessive privacy. How is this significant in relation to Burroughs’ relationship with him?
- To what extent can Burroughs’ father’s childhood explain or excuse his behaviour?
- Binaries are constructed throughout the novel between good and evil, light and dark, innocence and experience – does Burroughs’ story challenge or uphold these ideals?
- Is there a turning point in the narrative? Consider the end of chapter 6.
- Consider Burroughs’ presentation of his mother. Do we empathise with her as much as Burroughs himself?
- Both Burroughs and his father have links to religious beliefs – does Burroughs’ love of and his father’s rejection of God simply divide the two further? Or does it create a link between them? Was this Burroughs’ aim?
Other Books by Augusten Burroughs
A Wolf at the Table
From the author: ‘My father doesn’t feature much in Running with Scissors . …
Suggested Further Reading
- Running With Scissors: A Memoir ~ Augusten Burrows, Atlantic Books, February 2004
- Dry ~ Augusten Burrows, Atlantic Books, February 2005
- Magical Thinking ~ Augusten Burrows Atlantic Books, April 2005
- Look me in the Eye ~ John Elder Robison, Ebury Press, February 2008