chapters.indigo.ca: A Wolf At The Table: A Memoir of my Father: BURROUGHS AUGUSTEN: Books

About this Book

Format:Hardcover

Dimensions:256 Pages, 5.8 x 8.5 x 0.9 in

Published:April 29, 2008

Publisher:St. Martin's Press

The following ISBNs are associated with this title:
ISBN - 10:0312342020
ISBN - 13:9780312342029

From the Publisher

"As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we''d ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes.I wasn''t altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?" When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named. Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten''s childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn''t exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested. And then the "games" began. With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It''s a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.

About the Author

Augusten Burroughs was born in Pittsburgh, PA. in 1965. At the age of 18, he chose the name Augusten X. Burroughs and legalized it in a Boston courtroom. He was raised in Western Massachusetts, after his mother had abandoned him to live with her psychiatrist. Burroughs dropped out of school at 13, his mother and her shrink helping him fake a suicide attempt, got his GED at 17 and then flunked out of community college. Burroughs survived a harrowing childhood, but used it and the strength he gained from surviving, to springboard his literary career. He has been a dog trainer, candy store clerk, waiter, sail cutter, store detective and, from the age of 19, an advertising copywriter. Burroughs lived in San Francisco for five years, then moved to New York in the early 1990s. Burrough's writes full time, novels as well as a sex column in DETAILS magazine the occasional commentary for NPR, articles for New York Magazine and essays for salon.com, Borders and Booksense.

From The Community

Who's Listing it as a Top Ten

This title has appeared in 4 Top Ten lists. See the most recent lists below:

Top 10 Must Read (to complete)

MK , 2 years ago
This Week In the Media

IKE Booklover , 2 years ago
My Top Memoir Books

sigi , 17 months ago
If my house were on fire - these would make it out with me!

Tanya Todd , 11 months ago
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Who's Blogging

This title has been mentioned in 3 blogs. See the most recent posts below:

New Augusten Burroughs

Stan Gabriszeski , 2 years ago
In-Store Events for the Week of June 1

Kayleigh Sheehan , 2 years ago
Another hit for Augusten Burroughs

Sara Pinto , 2 years ago
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Average Customer Rating:
Reviews from the Community12 Reviews

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Jeff Schissler
- Indigo Employee
just ok.

5 weeks ago

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… + read more
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Sonia Bernier
Emotionally deep

5 weeks ago

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… + read more
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Rhea Starkes
Oops

5 weeks ago

I was disappointed in this read and struggled to finish it.
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Kathy Stacey
- 1 person found this helpful
Captivating

2 months ago

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.
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Julie LaFlamme
- 1 person found this helpful
Another childishly written story

3 months ago

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… + read more
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