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proofofruin's review against another edition
4.0
this was hard to read. i put off reading it for years because i knew it would be! recommend to anyone who grew up with a neglectful parent (or two) and is looking to get their feelings hurt.
goodem9199's review
3.0
The 3 stars are for the writing quality alone. As a huge fan of Burroughs, it was really disappointing to dislike one of his books. I thought the story was fractured. It didn't flow well to me, and I kept waiting for something to happen that never did. I listened to this on CD, and in the past, I've thought he was one of the best authors that I had ever heard read. Not so this time around. He was so overdramatic, sobbing at parts, that it was uncomfortable to listen to. Having said all of that, the writing itself was really strong. On the other hand, I sometimes felt as if he was trying to see how many descriptive words he could pack into a paragraph. What a bummer!
moment2shine's review
5.0
I'm very fond of Mr. Burroughs and throughout this book I became more and more invested in him as a person. I really love how he can frame his words as though he truly is speaking with the voice of a child. A scared, sad, lonely child who you want to hug and wrap a soft blanket around and tell him everything is going to be okay. I was deeply touched, disturbed, and moved by this book and was surprised I didn't cry until the last haunting sentence.
somanybookstoread's review
2.0
I'm interested in what Burroughs does so I picked this up for some light reading. I had mixed emotions. Until I got to the end, I would have only given it two stars but I think he does something pretty brilliant in the final few dozen pages in which he ever so briefly summarizes Running with Scissors and Dry without ever saying what he's doing. He shows himself as a troubled adult as opposed to a troubled child. It works. That and there were a few real gems in the writing, like "Fragments of hatred, that’s all I could hear…” Augusten left his usual humor behind in this one and proved he can still write, though I do think he might have overdone the evil portrayal of his father and maybe asked the reader for a bit too much pity. Worth it if you like him, but don't expect to laugh.
katiepea's review
3.0
Great writing, great author but horribly depressing. I will need to read a comedy now to keep me from sinking into despair.
11corvus11's review
I had to put this one down at just over halfway through. Not because it was badly written. On the contrary. The animal abuse in it is so vivid that I can't take it. Its more vivid and extreme than what happens to people though those parts aren't easy either. It's probably good if you can stomach it. I'm too sensitive and just found myself asking over and over, "do I need to be putting myself through this?" I really wanted to finish it. I just can't.
(I'm usually not a big DNFer. Bad streak.)
(I'm usually not a big DNFer. Bad streak.)
tessacmickeyd's review
5.0
I was very tense and glad it didn't escalate the way I thought it would. I would hate to have to go through this.