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Jennifer
Rating:
Review
Augusten’s version of reality is truly warped, mighty alarming, sad and believe it or not, even touching. His journey begins as an obsessive-compulsive blazer-and-tie-wearing little boy who won’t go to school unless his hair is combed perfectly. This book ends with Augusten as a disheveled teenager who rarely showers and lives in filth at the Finches house, and is one that most of us cannot even imagine. His mother, Dr. Finch, Natalie, Hope, and Bookman are just a few of the characters that readers will encounter in this disturbing memoir. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Dry, to see what is in store for Augusten as an adult.
Best Line:
Augusten’s mother was every child’s nightmare, to say the least. He describes her best by saying; “She was a rare psychotic-confessional-poet strain of salmonella.”
Kim
Rating:
Review
“Interesting” is one adjective I would use to describe this memoir. “Twisted” and “harrowing” are two more. Mr. Burroughs had a childhood than reads like a novel. His mother was mentally ill, his father, a stoic alcoholic, and once they get divorced, things really started hoppin’. Augusten’s mother decided to hand over her parental rights to her psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, so the author moved into the doctor’s squalid home, complete with his dysfunctional children, spaced-out wife and Bookman, the “adopted” grown son/pedophile that lives in a shed in the backyard. The author is candid about his homosexuality, along with everything else that takes place in his life. I’m not sure if “enjoyed” is a word I would use to describe how I found this book, but I’m glad I read it. We all have crap that happened in our childhoods, but the author’s story of growing up takes the cake.
Best Line:
“Dorothy viewed my mother’s propensity toward madness not as something to be afraid of, but rather as something to look forward to, like a movie or a newly released color of nail polish.”
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