Running with Scissors
Registered by dospescados on 2/23/2006
6 journalers for this copy...
received via paperbackswap.com from Sara Plante, Bennington, VT
from the back cover:
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
published 2002, 315 pages, trade paperback
from the back cover:
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
published 2002, 315 pages, trade paperback
I won't have a chance to get to this before I move in June so I'm going to ring it (and a bunch of other books) out with hopes of lightening my load.
Shipping order (subject to change):
vsimeone (Massillon, OH, USA -- int'l)
Navig8r (London, England -- int'l)
DJgib (Cambridge, England -- Eur. pref.)
ToXiCKiTTiKiSS (Temecula, CA, USA -- US only)
ldpaulson (Ventura, CA, USA -- US only) <----------en route to
SaintMargaret (Everett, WA, USA -- US only)
saidenuj (Marcus, IA, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
arugh48187 (Apple Valley, MN, USA -- US pref.)
rebeccaljames (Cincinnati, OH, USA - US only)
Bkworm9 (Washington, DC, USA -- US only)
karikitten (Dundalk, MD, USA -- ???)
stacyinthecity (New York, NY, USA -- US pref.)
twinkpuddin (Brooklyn, NY, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
atnaturesmercy (Cherry Hill, NJ, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
gumshoe007 (Ottawa, ON, Canada -- US/Can. pref.)
AnOtterChaos (West Lawn, PA, USA -- int'l)
NomiJo (Scarsdale, NY, USA -- int'l)
penguinlady930 (Sunnyside, NY, USA -- int'l)
Alectoness (Kelburn, New Zealand -- Aus./NZ pref.)
alice2623663 (Wollongong, NSW, Australia -- Aus. pref.)
-Bodhi- (Gymea, NSW, Australia -- Aus. pref.)
RockDg9 (Toowoomba, QLD, Australia -- int'l)
home to dospescados in Bloomington, IN, USA
I have no set time period that I ask you to read this in -- I understand there is life beyond Bookcrossing! -- but just be considerate to your fellow ringmates waiting ever so patiently for their turn and keep it moving in a timely fashion. Don't hesitate to PM me if you need to be moved farther down the list or removed altogether.
Shipping order (subject to change):
vsimeone (Massillon, OH, USA -- int'l)
Navig8r (London, England -- int'l)
DJgib (Cambridge, England -- Eur. pref.)
ToXiCKiTTiKiSS (Temecula, CA, USA -- US only)
ldpaulson (Ventura, CA, USA -- US only) <----------en route to
SaintMargaret (Everett, WA, USA -- US only)
saidenuj (Marcus, IA, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
arugh48187 (Apple Valley, MN, USA -- US pref.)
rebeccaljames (Cincinnati, OH, USA - US only)
Bkworm9 (Washington, DC, USA -- US only)
karikitten (Dundalk, MD, USA -- ???)
stacyinthecity (New York, NY, USA -- US pref.)
twinkpuddin (Brooklyn, NY, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
atnaturesmercy (Cherry Hill, NJ, USA -- US/Can. pref.)
gumshoe007 (Ottawa, ON, Canada -- US/Can. pref.)
AnOtterChaos (West Lawn, PA, USA -- int'l)
NomiJo (Scarsdale, NY, USA -- int'l)
penguinlady930 (Sunnyside, NY, USA -- int'l)
Alectoness (Kelburn, New Zealand -- Aus./NZ pref.)
alice2623663 (Wollongong, NSW, Australia -- Aus. pref.)
-Bodhi- (Gymea, NSW, Australia -- Aus. pref.)
RockDg9 (Toowoomba, QLD, Australia -- int'l)
home to dospescados in Bloomington, IN, USA
I have no set time period that I ask you to read this in -- I understand there is life beyond Bookcrossing! -- but just be considerate to your fellow ringmates waiting ever so patiently for their turn and keep it moving in a timely fashion. Don't hesitate to PM me if you need to be moved farther down the list or removed altogether.
I just received this in the mail on Friday. I'm sorry I didn't journal sooner. It's been a hectic weekend. I received two bookring books in the mail on the same day and I am just finishing one now. I'll get to this one as quickly as possible. Thanks again for starting this ring. I've been wanting to read this book for a while now!
What an interesting read! Sad and funny. I'm glad I got a chance to experience this. Thank you for including me in the ring. I have PM'ed DJgib and will get this mailed out just as soon as I receive an address. Thanks again and I look forward to trying some Bible dipping soon!
5/25/06 I was not able to reach Djgib or Dospescados so I mailed this off to Navig8r yesterday. I will be out of town most of June and I wanted to get it moving on to SOMEONE! Hope it won't mess up the ring!
5/25/06 I was not able to reach Djgib or Dospescados so I mailed this off to Navig8r yesterday. I will be out of town most of June and I wanted to get it moving on to SOMEONE! Hope it won't mess up the ring!
Journal Entry 5 by Navig8r from -- Somewhere in London 🤷♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, June 2, 2006
The book arrived! I am finishing up my current read, so I will get to this one asap. Thanks for sending it on.
Journal Entry 6 by Navig8r from -- Somewhere in London 🤷♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, June 22, 2006
I really enjoyed this book, and it was a fast read, which I needed!
Possibly one of the most screwed up childhoods I've ever read about, though. The tales of abuse were really quite something: it is amazing what children can get used to. The most disturbing thing about it all was that nobody (medical profession, child services) picked up on what was happening in that family. You would have thought someone would notice and try to do something about it. And I was glad that the little section in the back about who is doing what now was included, even though it was ultimately quite depressing. I will probably read Dry at some point because I would be very interested to hear what happens to Augusten.
The book was well-written too, although it lacked a little bit of literary flair. At times I felt that the narrative was a bit disjointed, but it wasn't too distracting.
Thank you for sharing this book. It was posted to DJgib yesterday.
Possibly one of the most screwed up childhoods I've ever read about, though. The tales of abuse were really quite something: it is amazing what children can get used to. The most disturbing thing about it all was that nobody (medical profession, child services) picked up on what was happening in that family. You would have thought someone would notice and try to do something about it. And I was glad that the little section in the back about who is doing what now was included, even though it was ultimately quite depressing. I will probably read Dry at some point because I would be very interested to hear what happens to Augusten.
The book was well-written too, although it lacked a little bit of literary flair. At times I felt that the narrative was a bit disjointed, but it wasn't too distracting.
Thank you for sharing this book. It was posted to DJgib yesterday.
Arrived safely - thanks! I'm half way through Anna Karenina at the moment, which is a great read but also a long one. I'll be as quick as possible.
I finished this a while ago but due to holiday hadn't got round to journalling.
Wow, what a headjob! Very impressive, not only the way the story was told but also the fact that he survived. I must say that I disagree with the quotes on the back sayig it's a funny book, I found it very sad and not a little scary and found very little to laugh about.
It was a good read though and hard to put down. I think Burroughs writes very well and doesn't seem to feel the need to embellish the story in any way (not that the subject matter really needs it).
Dospescados kindly said my boyfriend could read the book as well. He's already finished and will journal soon, after that we'll send it off to ToXiCKiTTiKiSS.
Wow, what a headjob! Very impressive, not only the way the story was told but also the fact that he survived. I must say that I disagree with the quotes on the back sayig it's a funny book, I found it very sad and not a little scary and found very little to laugh about.
It was a good read though and hard to put down. I think Burroughs writes very well and doesn't seem to feel the need to embellish the story in any way (not that the subject matter really needs it).
Dospescados kindly said my boyfriend could read the book as well. He's already finished and will journal soon, after that we'll send it off to ToXiCKiTTiKiSS.
I broke into this ring, with dospescados' blessing of course, and tackled it while on holiday. First of all, I can only agree with DJgib that there's very little funny about this book. I can remember no more than two short moments of laughter, and no clue what actually prompted either of those.
Mostly, I think, I was torn between utter horror and complete bewilderment. On the one hand, the amount of abuse and weirdness that children can tolerate and adapt to is miraculous; although I can't help wondering how sane any of those kids ended up at.
But just as scary is the utter and total madness of Augusten's mother. It's one of those things I've always known, but never could imagine, how crazy some people can be and what horrible effect this can have on the people around them! I do wonder now: who was eventually telling the truth? The Doctor, or Augusten's Mum?
I'm really impressed with Mr. Burroughs writing. I'm certainly interested in reading Dry; after all, we still don't know how he ended up strong enough to write up this story. I can't quite say I enjoyed this book, but it certainly was worth reading it! Thanks for allowing me to butt in here.
Mostly, I think, I was torn between utter horror and complete bewilderment. On the one hand, the amount of abuse and weirdness that children can tolerate and adapt to is miraculous; although I can't help wondering how sane any of those kids ended up at.
But just as scary is the utter and total madness of Augusten's mother. It's one of those things I've always known, but never could imagine, how crazy some people can be and what horrible effect this can have on the people around them! I do wonder now: who was eventually telling the truth? The Doctor, or Augusten's Mum?
I'm really impressed with Mr. Burroughs writing. I'm certainly interested in reading Dry; after all, we still don't know how he ended up strong enough to write up this story. I can't quite say I enjoyed this book, but it certainly was worth reading it! Thanks for allowing me to butt in here.
The book was posted to ToXiCKiTTiKiSS today.
Received and will read as soon as possible. Thanks!
What a crazy childhood. It's true, yet sad, that there are really people like that out there. While it wasn't necessary comical, it did have a couple funny parts. It took a while to actually get into it, but then I couldn't put it down. It was fascinating how the Dr. stayed one for so long. No one suspected anything, even with the family's crazy antics. Will be sending off to the next person as soon as I can.
