Ms. Hen reviews Running with Scissors

 

Running with Scissors

Augusten Burrows

Picador

2002

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. Someone she knew had read it years ago, and she always remembered the title.

This is a book based on the author's true story, but he claims it is not a memoir.

This is the story of young Augusten and his dysfunctional life. His mother was a poet, and struggled with mental illness. His father was an alcoholic, and was not very responsive. His mother sent him to live part-time with her psychiatrist when she got a divorce, and was having a difficult time with her life.

Augusten's life in the psychiatrist's house was unconventional and never boring. The doctor had children, and the house was a mess, and they had some adopted children, and a patient that lived in the house, and never left her room. Augusten became good friends with Natalie, who was around his age. They got in trouble together. His mother became more unstable, and his situation was like that as well. He didn't go to school, but wanted to be a doctor, or own a hair empire.

When Ms. Hen first started reading this book, she didn't like it; she didn't like the way the mother was portrayed, because she seemed cartoonish, and Ms. Hen didn't think the story was funny. But as she got into the book, she liked it, because it's like being a voyeur into someone else's twisted life. 

Ms. Hen thought she knew about mental illness, but the doctor in this book is completely off the rails, and she does not understand how someone like this could practice psychiatry.

After she finished the book, Ms. Hen wondered what the point of it was. None of the characters are likable, and they don't have any redeeming qualities. The protagonist is a selfish, cruel, weird young man, and his mother is sick, and the family he stays with is demented.

Ms. Hen thinks the author might have written this as a sensational book to make the people in his life look bad.

Ms. Hen learned that the family portrayed in RUNNING WITH SCISSORS took the author to court and they lost. Ms. Hen understands why. If a book is not a memoir, then it is not the truth. Writing is a funny business, and some people write for questionable reasons. 

Ms. Hen isn't sure if she liked this or if she didn't, but while she was reading it, she thought it was a fun romp. She thinks that might be the whole point.