"The most amazing book...hilarious, freaky-deaky, berserk,
controlled, transcendent, touching, affectionate, vengeful,
all-embracing. It makes you happy that there''s such a thing in the
world as a string of written words...a golden effervescence of
invention and wit that stuns you with its audacity and beauty and
powerful love of being alive. "Running with Scissors," as a memoir
in the current conventional sense, makes a good run at blowing
every other contender out of the water." --"The Washington Post"
"Bawdy, outrageous, often hilarious...the anecdotes in "Running
with Scissors" can be so flippant, and so insanely funny (quite
literally), that the effect is that of a William Burroughs
situation comedy." --"The New York Times
"
""Running With Scissors" is testament to the resilience of the
human spirit. That he can stand aside as an impartial observer of
it, even write with humor in spite of the tragedy around him, is
astounding proof of our emotional survival skills...reads like
David Sedaris writing "The Hotel New Hampshire." --"The Boston
Globe"
''Twisted, freakish, unfathomably bizarre...Not only is it one of
the funniest "coming of age" memoirs written, it''s also the best
of the genre since Paul Monette''s "Becoming a Man...." It''s
literally breathtaking, and you may find yourself putting the book
down occasionally to catch some air. But when you come back for
more, Burroughs'' brilliant writing and humor in the face of
darkness catch you off guard...It will prove to be a lasting
treasure, a gorgeously written true-life story destined to be
cherished and quoted long after its last page is read. Best of all,
by the book''s end, it bravely stands as a life-affirmingsurvival
guide for all the misfits of the world." --"The Tampa Tribune"
""Running with Scissors" is a cut above...screamingly funny...Two
things make Burroughs'' book so compelling: his wit and his
depiction of the wild goings-on in this large, strange family...But
the true source of Running with Scissors'' appeal stems from
Burroughs'' ability to bring the 1970''s alive...In the end, the
book celebrates Burroughs'' resilient, upbeat spirit, which helps
him surmount one of the weirder childhoods on record." --"USA
TODAY"
"Augusten Burroughs'' memoir, "Running With Scissors," is a surreal
and entertaining trip through a young life most readers will thank
God wasn''t theirs...Burroughs never lets his readers forget that
stuck in the middle of all the madness is a confused boy."
--"Cleveland Plain Dealer"
"Shocking, sarcastic, humorous but never dull, the memoir has an
effect similar to watching a car accident. You know you shouldn''t
gawk, but you simply can''t turn away from the carnage." --"Boston
Herald"
"He survived parental trauma, his mom''s psychiatrist''s house of
horrors and, to bring the book into the here and now, an
acquaintance with a pedophile...But Augusten Burroughs''s memoir
still makes you laugh, because it''s as funny as it is twisted."
--"G.Q."