Wolf At The Table: A Memoir of my Father

The comedic edge mixed with the deep emotional portrayal makes for an intense rollercoaster ride of a novel. The prologue of the book is a few paragraphs that will be forever engrained into my memory as one of my most favorite pieces of writing (and can i just say, every sentence is a brick to the building of the story. I always hate usless information in novels, and thats one thing that does not exist here).

I felt I had to give my take on this book, as there are so few positive ones. I don't quite understand how someone could say something bad about a novel, where the only thing a little boy wants in his life is love from his father. It breaks my heart to read the constant attempts of young augustens plead for this.. and the bizarre inter-workings of his family's story is something else, to say the least.

Burroughs writing alone is what made me pluck this book for the second time from my shelf. If the "self-pity" and "exaggeration" of it is too much, the words alone are enough to make this memoir a standout. (Of course for me, the self-pity/exaggeration people tend to talk about is exaggeration in and of itself.) The story is one that pulls you along with every flip of the page. The ending? One that will resonate with you long after its over.

In my opinion, you may need a pacemaker for this one.

A memoir is not a biography. It is not backed by facts, but is an account of one person's remembered history. Events may not have happened exactly as remembered, nor may conversation have occurred exactly as written. What is important is the emotion left with the author and "Wolf at the Table" is an incredibly painful account of one man's childhood remembrances of his father. Do not read this book expecting to laugh out loud, or to even laugh at all. Expect to cringe, and cry, and even feel frightened.

i just finished "possible side effects" and it was ok and then i picked up "wolf at the table" and I was, again, let down.
at times i felt sorry for augusten and the stuff he had to go through, but throughout the memoir i couldn't help but think that it was fabricated...A LOT. For example, there were FULL length conversations that Augusten has with his father when he is nine. Does anyone have that good of a memory? This is a quick read about a boy who lives with his indulgent mother and psychotic father. In my opinion he tells about how bad he had it over and over and over again and it gets boring. When I finished, I didn't put it down and say "that was a good book!, I put it down and said "thats done with. now I can move on to something else."

Bravo, bravo. I have not read many books that have reached my heart so deep. I had goose bumps at certain times. The character of the boy is exceptionally well written and honest about his feelings and confusions towards his father. I could understand so much his need to reach for his affection at the same time knowning that it was also dangerous to do so.

The way the plot was developed from childhood memories to his present adult days was fascinating. Not once I was lost in the time frame or in his journey to understand who he is and will be.

I recommend this book to anyone with a strong mind and who loves the adventures and struggle of human stories. Life is not always easy, but there is always hope. I will leave the ending up the future readers to judge as a surprise.

As for the writter Mr. Augusten, this was my first time reading a book of yours and it definately won't be the last.

I was disappointed in this read and struggled to finish it.

Wow, was this book written good. The writing was so spectacular that I actually could actually see my self there as his life unfolded. He writes as he remembers his life growing up so it jumps as he gets older. and you lose track of his age. I am very impressed by this book.

After reading Running with Scissors, thought I'd give this guy another chance, based on some of the reviews I read.
He still writes in an irritatingly pretentious, fake juvenile style - trying to sound like he's using a child's perspective throughout the book, but in an unconvincing way (we were all children at one time, & I never remember the reasoning this guys uses).
I had hoped he would grow up & just write a story in realistic terms, but he chose instead to offer up a self-indulgent mish-mash of words.
Sorry, but I just found this book annoying.

This was my first introduction to Augusten Burroughs. I found A wolf at the Table to be a fast and easy read. It was hard to put down once I had immersed myself into this dark, sinister, dysfunctional, and sometimes out right disturbing family. I finished it in one day.
At some points I found his writing style to be difficult to read. I also had to question whether some parts were truly fact, or if there was some fiction thrown in as well. I may be mistaken when I assume that memoir's are complete truth. However if this truly is an accurate account of his childhood, it just makes it that much more disturbing.
Overall I would definitely recommend this book, however I would not put it in my top pick's.

Good...but dark

I am a huge fan of all Burroughs' other works, but having heard mixed reviews about A Wolf At the Table, I was a bit reluctant to pick it up. But thankfully a friend gave it to me as a gift, because I loved it! It is another memoir, filling in many of the gaps about Burroughs' early life that he hasn't mentioned in his other stories. This one is more comparable to Running With Scissors in style, and is more on the serious side than the funnier/lighter Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects. While Burroughs' father has little presence in the other stories, A Wolf At the Table brings to light his strange role in Burroughs' life and odd upbringing. Burroughs' other stories display humour towards his childhood and adult life, and a real laugh-it-off attitude; but this story had me really feeling sympathy for what he went through, and realizing the depth and seriousness of the situation.

While some parts did seem a little extreme/exaggerated, I think that just represents how much of an effect his father's behaviour had on him.

Kudos to Augusten Burroughs for turning his strange childhood into a great story that will entertain and amaze many!

Although this was not his best memoir, Burroughs still manages to be insightful and honest when speaking of his early childhood and his relationship with his father.

A few more pieces to the puzzle that made up his life, and all the fear and anxiety that came with it.

Using construction-paper cutouts to disguise himself as the family dog and cuddling up to a stuffed "father body" are evidence of not only the ingenuity of a child struggling in an emotional wasteland, but also of classic genius. Clearly Augusten Burroughs creativity was apparent long before he put pen to paper. As sad and unfortunate as was his abandonment by his parents, he has proven rather successful after such mayhem, and it is not yet clear to me whether that is in spite of them or because of them. Although the story is wrought with the darkness of his bizarre and terribly lonely childhood, there is nevertheless a consistent strain of sardonic prose which permeates hope for the reader and substantiates Augusten's prevailing strength.

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Augusten Burroughs has once again kept me rivited to the pages of his newest memoir about his father. Although this one isn't as laugh at loud funny as his others it has vividly recaptured how a child sees the world and their parents. Augusten not only has an excellent memory but describes details of things he did and thought as a child that helped me remember that I did or thought those same things. He can bring anyones childhood back in so clearly that you feel like you're seven years old again. Augusten's father is scary and relatable. For those who don't relate, they should be extremely thankful. As after reading any of Augusten's memoiors I feel he is a strong and lucky man to have overcome his past and is now who he is today.