Synopses & Reviews
Nominated for the 2009 Audiobook of the Year
“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing wed ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasnt altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?”
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augustens childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didnt exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested…
And then the “games” began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. Its a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
Review
"A deeply felt personal essay padded to book length." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The author of Running with Scissors delves into new territory with his most personal and unexpected memoir yet. A Wolf at the Table is the story of Burroughs' relationship with his father, his stunning psychological cruelty, and the redemptive power of hope.
Synopsis
"As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we'd ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes...I wasn't altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?"
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten's childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn't exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested...
And then the "games" began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It's a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
Synopsis
The #1 bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry returns with a most unexpected and powerful memoir.
Synopsis
“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing wed ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasnt altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?”
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augustens childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didnt exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested…
And then the “games” began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. Its a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
About the Author
AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS is the
New York Times bestselling author of
Possible Side Effects, Magical Thinking,
Dry,
Running with Scissors, and
Sellevision. He lives in New York City and Amherst, Massachussetts.
Performer/poet PATTI SMITH and daughter Jesse Smith collaborated with songwriter Michael Campbell in their response to A Wolf at the Table. The song, “The Only Time,” is an effort to capture the mood of the memoir by Augusten Burroughs, while maintaining a hopeful undercurrent.
INGRID MICHAELSONs self-released album of quirky, pop gems, Girls and Boys, gained attention when her songs including, “The Way I Am,” were featured on the show, Greys Anatomy. With her music now a fixture on the Billboard and iTunes charts, Ingrid continues to have unprecedented success as a do-it-yourself artist.
Named after Jack Londons 1904 novel, Los Angeles SEA WOLF is the nom de plume for singer/songwriter Alex Brown Church and the orchestral indie rock he creates. His debut LP, Leaves In The River, was released last year on Dangerbird Records to critical acclaim. Touring the country with label mates Silversun Pickups and veterans Nada Surf, the band made its national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Although she is currently spending a dysfunctional amount of time touring the world with her indie pop band, TEGAN QUIN from Tegan and Sara, is a bookworm who lives and writes songs in Vancouver, Canada. “His Love” was recorded in her home studio/library.
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
1. What do you make of the brief but chilling scene that opens A Wolf at the Table? How does it affect your expectations for the story that follows? If youve read Burroughs other books, did the first pages of his new memoir shock or intrigue you? Why? How is this book a departure from his previous ones?
2. Why do you think Burroughs tells much of the memoir from the perspective of a little boy? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this approach?
3. Could the "Wolf" of the books title be read as a metaphor that extends beyond the father? For example, can memories become more real and terrifying than the incidents or people that inspire them?
4. Compare and contrast Burroughs portrait of his father with his portrayal of his mother in Running with Scissors.
5. In chapter two, how is Augustens destruction of the violin a manifestation of his rage at his father? Where else in the book is Augustens anger with his parents displaced onto something or someone else? Might Augustens hypochondria (page 170) or his later problem with drinking (chapter eighteen) be examples of this? Why?
6. Consider Burroughs website, www.augusten.com, where he writes about and posts videos of his dogs Bentley and Cow. Does A Wolf at the Table predict or explain his intense relationships with animals?
7. On page 31, Burroughs writes that he "felt very close to his father examining his things" because "in a way, he was his things." How can people become their "things"? What objects do you associate with those who were or are important to you in your own life?
8. How do you interpret the mothers story in chapter seven about her marriage to Augustens father? What does her story reveal about her as well as her marriage? Does her story shed any light on the fathers behavior?If youve read Running with Scissors, does his portrayal of the mother in that book complement or conflict with your understanding of the parents marriage and Burroughs childhood in this book?
9. On page 107, Burroughs writes: "I realized that my father was two men - one he presented to the outsideworld, and one, far darker, that was always there, behind the face everybody else saw." Do you think Augustens father is a sociopath? Do you think his father is capable of murder? Why?
10. Do Augustens feelings about his father truly evolve and change by the close of the book?