Book: Running with Scissors, A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs.
Theme: Disturbed childhood.
Film: A movie of the same title was released last fall with Annette Bening ("American Beauty"), Alec Baldwin ("The Departed"), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Shakespeare in Love") and Joseph Cross ("Flags of our Fathers").
Accolades: The author, Augusten Burroughs, was named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the fifteen funniest people in America.
Summary: Based on Burroughs' real life childhood, the novel is a recollection of his experiences growing up with a lesbian mother who has psychotic tendencies and a yearly nervous breakdown, and an alcoholic father. Shortly after his parent's divorce, his mother Deidre begins regularly visiting with a psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, who prescribes drugs like they're candy and keeps a "Masturbatorium" room for special urges in his office.
It is when Deidre makes Dr. Finch Burroughs' legal guardian, relinquishing her duties as a mother, that his life really becomes crazy. Dr. Finch's house is laden with unwanted rodents and live-in patients who should really be hospitalized. Mrs. Finch likes to snack on dog food, their grandson is allowed to poop on the living room rug, and Dr. Finch openly cheats on his wife. Among these substandard role models, the homosexual Burroughs must find an identity separate from his biological or adopted family.
"This memoir is so wacky it feels like it must be fiction, but nonetheless it is a quick, enjoyable read. One of my favorite parts is when Burroughs and his adopted sister, Natalie Finch, decide to create a skylight in the kitchen ceiling and nobody objects. Don't read the epilogue until you finish the book."
"Every time I finished a chapter, I thought it was the craziest thing I had ever read - until I read the next chapter. The most unbelievable part is that it's entirely true. The movie is a really watered-down version of the book."
