Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, St. Martin's Press, 2002

Running with Scissors tells a tragic tale of dysfunction and child abuse on more levels than one human being should ever endure. Born to an uncaring alcoholic father and a mentally unstable mother, author Augusten Burroughs relates his life as a child and teenager. Although his mother did seek pyschological treatment, she unfortunately chooses to be seen by Dr. Finch, a certifiable lunatic in his own right. Young Augusten is left in the care of the doctor and his menagerie of quirky, and sometimes criminal, family and various patients. This memoir almost comes across as humorous at times, until one remembers that the incidents are based on fact. Illegal drug use, lack of morals and ethics, pedophilia, and homosexual incidents portrayed in this book may not appeal to some readers.

Burroughs writing style and lack of self-pity appealed to me and I would be open to reading more works by this author.

Readers who enjoyed this book may also like these fiction titles: White Oleander by Janet Fitch, Little Brown, 1999. After her mother is sent to jail for murdering her lover, Astrid survives a string of less than ideal foster home situations. Dramatic rather than humorous; a powerful story. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving, Dutton, 1981. Irving is always a masterful writer, and certain contents of this book would be even more disturbing had they been factual.

Readers who enjoyed this book may also like these non-fiction titles: Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, Scribner, 2006. Another well written and engrossing tale from a survivor of a highly-dysfunctional family. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, Mariner, 2008. Written in a graphic novel format, Bechdel tells her own tale of dealing with the skeletons in her family's closets.