Synopses & Reviews
From the number-one bestselling author of
Running with Scissors and
Dry comes Augusten Burroughs's most eagerly anticipated collection yet: true stories that give voice to the thoughts that we all have but dare not mention.
It begins with a Tang Instant-Breakfast Drink television commercial:
"Yes, you, Augusten. You were great. We want you." I can now trace my manic adult tendencies to this moment. It was the first time I felt deeply thrilled about something just a fraction of an instant after being completely crushed. I believe those three words "We want you" were enough to cause my brain to rewire itself, and from then on, I would require more than other people....- from Magical Thinking's "Commercial Break"
A contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. A different kind of "roof work." Dating an undertaker who shows up in a minivan. This is the fabric of Augusten Burroughs's life: a collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate, stories that shine a flashlight into both dark and hilarious places. With Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs goes where other memoirists fear to tread.
Review
"Like fellow essayists David Sedaris and Jonathan Ames, Burroughs possesses a mind-set best described as superlatively disturbed....[A]n irresistible display of sanity hanging by a thread." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Perhaps it is Burroughs' versatility he can write about love without being cloying, he can describe being an alcoholic without being boring, he can write about his demented family without self-pity that makes him such a delight to read." USA Today
Review
"A gifted satirist, Burroughs offers hilarity in the face of despair, and loyal readers of his earlier best sellers will welcome this new collection. Recommended..." Library Journal
Review
"Burroughs' deft approach to weaving the wildly absurd and strangely touching moments of his life into sharp literary snacks makes for an entertaining afternoon on the couch, memoir in hand..." Boston Herald
Review
"Augusten Burroughs shows why he is the memorist-of-the-moment with his harrowing and laugh-out-loud new essay collection, Magical Thinking." Vanity Fair
Review
"(R)uthlessly funny...deliciously perverse...he extracts something funny from every shred of his own warped experience. Magical Thinking indeed (Four out of four stars)." People
Review
"Magical Thinking is finely-honed and addicting....Burroughs deserves to be on the top shelf of any writer's or reader's bookshelf." Rocky Mountain News
Review
"There are few writers as outrageously magical or as surprisingly thoughtful as Augusten Burroughs." Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
"As creepy and unacceptable as many of Burroughs' stories are, he's so good with the turn of a phrase or nailing down an entire subculture with one sentence that readers will nod their heads in recognition." Oregonian
Review
"Augusten Burroughs' new memoir, Magical Thinking, explodes like a Chinese rocket in the face of the unsuspecting reader....Open the book anywhere, and chances are good you'll be hooting, if not grinning, by the end of a chapter..." Denver Post
Synopsis
From the #1 bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry comes an outrageous collection of true stories.
Synopsis
From the number-one bestselling author of
Running with Scissors and
Dry comes Augusten Burroughs's most eagerly anticipated collection yet: true stories that give voice to the thoughts that we all have but dare not mention.
It begins with a Tang Instant-Breakfast Drink television commercial:
"Yes, you, Augusten. You were great. We want you." I can now trace my manic adult tendencies to this moment. It was the first time I felt deeply thrilled about something just a fraction of an instant after being completely crushed. I believe those three words "We want you" were enough to cause my brain to rewire itself, and from then on, I would require more than other people.... from "Commercial Break," in Magical Thinking.
A contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. A different kind of "roof work." Dating an undertaker who shows up in a minivan. This is the fabric of Augusten Burroughs's life: a collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate, stories that shine a flashlight into both dark and hilarious places. With Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs goes where other memoirists fear to tread.
Synopsis
Praise for Augusten Burroughs
"A wrenching, edifying journey...with the added benefit of being really entertaining."
- The New York Times Book Review on Dry
"Beneath the quick-flowing, funny-sad surface of Burroughs's prose lurks considerable complexity."
- Time on Dry
"A great read."
- Chicago Sun-Times on Dry
"Dry is more than a heartbreaking tale; it's a heroic one."
- People on Dry
"Laughter on the road to sobriety...for aficionados of outrageous black comedy."
- The New York Times on Dry
"Bawdy, outrageous...insanely funny (quite literally)...a William Burroughs situation comedy."
- The New York Times on Running with Scissors
"Running with Scissors, as a memoir in the current conventional sense, makes a good run at blowing every other contender out of the water."
- The Washington Post on Running with Scissors
"Outrageously amusing...wait until you get a load of this guy's material.... He can consider this a fan letter. Grade A."
- Entertainment Weekly on Running with Scissors
"As funny as it is twisted."
- GQ on Running with Scissors
Synopsis
From the #1 bestselling author of
Running with Scissors and
Dry--a contagiously funny, heartwarming, shocking, twisted, and absolutely magical collection. True stories that give voice to the thoughts we all have but dare not mention. It begins with a Tang Instant Breakfast Drink television commercial when Augusten was seven. Then there is the contest of wills with the deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. Dating an undertaker and much more. A collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate and very funny.
Synopsis
From the number-one bestselling author of
Running with Scissors and
Dry comes Augusten Burroughs's most eagerly anticipated collection yet: true stories that give voice to the thoughts that we all have but dare not mention.
It begins with a Tang Instant-Breakfast Drink television commercial:
"Yes, you, Augusten. You were great. We want you." I can now trace my manic adult tendencies to this moment. It was the first time I felt deeply thrilled about something just a fraction of an instant after being completely crushed. I believe those three words "We want you" were enough to cause my brain to rewire itself, and from then on, I would require more than other people....- from Magical Thinking's "Commercial Break"
A contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. A different kind of "roof work." Dating an undertaker who shows up in a minivan. This is the fabric of Augusten Burroughs's life: a collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate, stories that shine a flashlight into both dark and hilarious places. With Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs goes where other memoirists fear to tread.
Synopsis
Praise for Augusten Burroughs
"A wrenching, edifying journey...with the added benefit of being really entertaining."
- The New York Times Book Review on Dry
"Beneath the quick-flowing, funny-sad surface of Burroughs's prose lurks considerable complexity."
- Time on Dry
"A great read."
- Chicago Sun-Times on Dry
"Dry is more than a heartbreaking tale; it's a heroic one."
- People on Dry
"Laughter on the road to sobriety...for aficionados of outrageous black comedy."
- The New York Times on Dry
"Bawdy, outrageous...insanely funny (quite literally)...a William Burroughs situation comedy."
- The New York Times on Running with Scissors
"Running with Scissors, as a memoir in the current conventional sense, makes a good run at blowing every other contender out of the water."
- The Washington Post on Running with Scissors
"Outrageously amusing...wait until you get a load of this guy's material.... He can consider this a fan letter. Grade A."
- Entertainment Weekly on Running with Scissors
"As funny as it is twisted."
- GQ on Running with Scissors
About the Author
Augusten Burroughs is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Running with Scissors, Dry, and, most recently, Possible Side Effects, which have also been New York Times bestsellers and are published around the world. A film version of Running with Scissors was adapted for the screen by Ryan Murphy. Augusten has been named one of the fifteen funniest people in America by Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York City and western Massachusetts.