by Augusten Burroughs
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover"...Augusten Burroughs is known for his poignant and painfully honest autobiographical commentary..."
The above quote is ripped directly from the author's Facebook page and it states what I love most about his writing: the biting honesty of his willingness to share.
I believe it is human nature to keep many secrets from the world at large, and sometimes even from ourselves. I don't know about you, but were I to write a memoir, there are dozens of stories that I would want left out. I would fight with the editors to keep many, many things from being published.
Burroughs has the opposite approach. It is said that good writers open a vein and bleed upon the page. If this is true, Augusten Burroughs' books are saturated red.
I read a lot of memoirs because I am interested in people's stories. I have kept up with Burroughs since his nonfiction debut. In Lust and Wonder, the subject is relationships and we tag along as he examines the differences and similarities of love and lust.
To further illustrate the point of the Facebook quote: Reading Augusten Burroughs is like being at lunch with just the two of you and you get to listen to him catch you up on everything that's been happening in his life. You don't care that you don't get a word in at all -- his storytelling is captivating. There is just the right amount of humor, drama and self-deprecation to keep things real.
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed Running with Scissors. It would do good to have the backstory.
I am eagerly looking forward to the next chapter, so to speak.
Review by BookDude
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