Running with Scissors

Augusten Burroughs

ISBN 10: 0312283709 / ISBN 13: 9780312283704

Published by St. Martin's Press, New York, 2002

About this Item

First Edition, First Printing with full number line. Signed by the author at title page. Traces of shelf wear to dust jacket, Near Fine. Book presents with some bumping to top and ends, Near Fine. In collectible condition. Controversy followed the release of this title and in 2005, the family centered in the book filed a suit against the writer and his publisher, with allegations of character defamation. The case was settled prior to the release of the film adaptation. When challenged about the validity of the events, Burroughs insisted in his settlement statement: "It's still a memoir, it's marketed as a memoir, they've agreed one hundred percent that it is a memoir." Burroughs did agree to call his release a "book" rather than a memoir. In a 2016 interview with Goodreads, Burroughs describes his childhood as "an endless series of punches, of traumas.I just became psychologically athletic." His titles often center around bittersweet humor and surviving unstable childhoods.

Seller Inventory # 5171

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Running with Scissors
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312283709
• ISBN 13: 9780312283704
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jan Stomme; jacket photo
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain. Suddenly, at age twelve, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules, there was no school. The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, and Valium was eaten like Pez. And when things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock therapy machine under the stairs....

Running with Scissors is at turns foul and harrowing, compelling and maniacally funny. But above all, it chronicles an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

 

Running with Scissors Acknowledgments
Gratitude doesn’t begin to describe it: Jennifer Enderlin, Christopher Schelling, John Murphy, Gregg Sullivan, Kim Cardascia, Michael Storrings, and everyone at St. Martin’s Press. Thank you: Lawrence David, Suzanne Finnamore, Robert Rodi, Bret Easton Ellis, Jon Pepoon, Lee Lodes, Jeff Soares, Kevin Weidenbacher, Lynda Pearson, Lona Walburn, Lori Greenburg, John DePretis, and Sheila Cobb. I would also like to express my appreciation to my mother and father for, no matter how inadvertently, giving me such a memorable childhood. Additionally, I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events described in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent, and hard-working people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of Running with Scissors. Most of all, I would like to thank my brother for demonstrating, by example, the importance of being wholly unique.

About the Author

Augusten Burroughs is the author of Dry, Magical Thinking: True Stories, Possible Side Effects, A Wolf at the Table and You Better Not Cry. He is also the author of the novel Sellevision, which is currently in development for film. The film version of Running with Scissors, directed by Ryan Murphy and produced by Brad Pitt, was released in October 2006 and starred Joseph Cross, Brian Cox, Annette Bening (nominated for a Golden Globe for her role), Alec Baldwin and Evan Rachel Wood. Augusten's writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers around the world including The New York Times and New York Magazine. In 2005 Entertainment Weekly named him one of “The 25 Funniest People in America.” He resides in New York City and Western Massachusetts.