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Running with Scissors  By  cover art

Running with Scissors

By: Augusten Burroughs
Narrated by: Augusten Burroughs
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Publisher's summary

Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of being Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain.

Suddenly, at age 12, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian house in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules.

Running with Scissors is at turns foul and harrowing, compelling and maniacally funny. But above all, it is a truly amazing chronicle of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

©2002 Augusten Burroughs (P)2002 Audio Renaissance, a Division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

  • Book Sense Book of the Year Finalist, Adult Non-Fiction, 2003

"Beautifully written with a finely tuned sense of style...this memoir of a nightmarish youth is both compulsively entertaining and tremendously provocative." (Publishers Weekly)
"Bawdy, outrageous, often hilarious." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about Running with Scissors

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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book, distracting music

The book was interesting and the personal struggles hit close to home with me. The music was distracting at times.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

The narrator was very good. The story had too many questions and not enough answers.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

unique!!!

I liked this book it was quite interesting and I thought it showed a real sittuation well. this book is very unique and i think it is definatly worth reading!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely wonderful

love love love it...cant wait to get more from this author....entertainment extreme...very addictive...thank you so much

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Raw and Insightful

Amazing Information and entertaining recall of a chaotic life. I am impressed with the tenacity of Augusten Burroughs surfing troubled waters and honing his lemons into lemonade worth reading. Raw sexual activities, not withstanding, were eye opening. I highly recommend this book, read by the author!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Fluff...

Don't really care for the style of this book. It's too weird, not enough of a storyline to keep me hooked.

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1 person found this helpful