Info Links
Some diverting Augusten Burroughs links: |
About
Augusten Burroughs by Kathleen Yates Augusten Burroughs was born Chris Robison in 1965 in Pittsburgh, PA to mentally ill, alcoholic parents. He grew up in Western Massachusetts. When Burroughs was twelve, his parents separated and thus began the most turbulent part of his childhood, silhouetted in dark, dry humor in his 2002 memoir, Running With Scissors. Burroughs became the ward of his mother’s eccentric and unpredictable psychologist and lived in a house where dog food was a movie snack, family members were encouraged to search for messages in their feces, and he was encouraged to have a relationship with a 34-year-old man. Burroughs left this dysfunctional home in his late teens and went on to graduate from the Control Data Institute in Boston. Eventually he scored a high-paying advertising job in New York and proceeded to waste his money on drugs and alcohol, landing him a spot in rehab. His experiences during this time of his life are presented in shocking and unabashed details in his second memoir, Dry. It was after his time in rehab that Burroughs decided to try his hand at writing, during a time when memoirs were at the peak of their popularity in America. The sudden and phenomenal success of his work saved Burroughs from a life of homelessness, drugs, and abuse. Publishing five memoirs in six years is no small feat and critics began to question the validity of his stories, most of which are so horrifying and embarrassing its hard to believe someone who lived through them could write about them, much less in such a humorous and unflinching manner. Burroughs maintains that his books are truthful and written directly from his startlingly clear memories. “When I am writing,” he says, “I am there. I’m there. I never, ever, in any of my books, ever, have thought, ‘Now, how would I have talked?’ That is not how I write. It feels like I just go back and I’m there. It’s like a movie. It’s extremely vivid. I’m a monkey at a typewriter, writing about the time it got M&Ms, and the time a blue M&M came out instead of a red one.” Whatever your thoughts on the truthfulness of the work, there’s no denying that it’s laugh-out-loud funny. Burroughs has been twice voted for Entertainment Weekly’s “Funniest People in America” list, provided commentary for National Public Radio, and hovered on the New York Times bestseller list for years at a time. In 2013 Burroughs married his literary agent, Christopher Schelling and the two now split their time between Manhattan and Burroughs’s home state of Massachusetts. As if his work in literature were not enough, Burroughs also sells vintage jewelry, dabbles in jewelry design, and practices photography. Fans can only hope that Burroughs’ eclectic life will provide for sidesplitting reading for years to come. Bibliography "About Augusten Burroughs." Augusten Burroughs. http://www.augusten.com/about.html (accessed November 17, 2013). Anderson, Sam. "The Memory Addiction of Augusten Burroughs." New York Magazine, April 27, 2008, http://nymag.com/arts/books/ features/46475/ (last accessed November 17, 2013). |
Selected Books by Augusten Burroughs
Click on any title to find library holdings near you via the WorldCat® database. Burroughs, Augusten
This is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinster-hood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012 Burroughs provides a guide book where he shares a taste of his own life lessons. Topics range from “How to be Fat” to “How to Let a Child Die.” His honest, practical approach is aimed at providing readers with both insight and an open mind. Burroughs is sure to have readers laughing, crying, and reflecting on their own lives in this non-traditional take on self-help. Burroughs, Augusten
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2009 Laugh-out-loud stories from Burroughs’s Christmases past are riddled with nostalgia and poignancy. Burroughs recounts the confusion caused for children by the equal spotlight given to Santa and Jesus. Are they the same person? He eats his way through the face of a wax Santa Clause, and even wakes up hung over next to old Kris Kringle himself. Burroughs shows us how the holidays can bring out the worst and the absolute best in us. Burroughs, Augusten
Magical Thinking: True Stories New York: Picador, 2004 A collection of true stories from Burroughs’s life that touch on thoughts we’ve all had but are too embarrassed to admit. These funny and intimate tales range from an “almost-perfect” date, an execution of a rat in a bathtub, and the effects of newfound fame. Burroughs’s gift for finding the humor in otherwise unpleasant or embarrassing situations makes the mundane magical. Burroughs, Augusten
Dry New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003 In the fast-paced world of New York advertising, Augusten Burroughs struggles to stay afloat. His all-night, black out drinking habits have left him relying on distracting ties and cologne on his tongue to hide his addiction. When his employers demand a stint in rehab to address the problem, Burroughs finds himself in a position to examine his life with startling clarity, and embarks on journey through thirty days of grim therapy groups followed by an attempt to regain sober control of a life he’s only known drunk. Burroughs, Augusten
Running with Scissors New York: Picador, 2002 In Burroughs’s first memoir, he paints a picture of a turbulent and troubled childhood from mentally unstable parents to an eccentric psychologist guardian. His experiences are presented in unflinching detail, with Burroughs’s quick wit and dry humor making even the most shocking situations laugh-out-loud funny. Burroughs, Augusten
Sellevision New York: Picador, 2000 Max Andrews, a much-loved gay host of “Slumber Sunday Sundown” on America’s premier home shopping network, sparks a scandal when he accidentally exposes himself during a “Toys for Tots” segment. Meanwhile, host Peggy Jean Smythe pops pills and drinks heavily while pouring over emails from a stalker. Bebe searches for love on the Internet while trying to squelch her shopping addiction, and desperate Leigh will go to any length to make the Sellevision boss, Howard Toast, love her. Burroughs’s foray into the world of fiction is just as delightfully bizarre and hilarious as his own life. |