Monday, February 06, 2006
Augusten Burroughs Is A Liar
At least, it certainly seems that way. Just finished reading his "memoir" Running With Scissors and found it difficult in the extreme to believe his story. Not because strange and terrible things happened to him but because he wrote about them unconvincingly. Bad as fiction, but if made up, unconscionable as memoir. The Independent UK has a lengthy profile that without trying too hard raises all sorts of questions. It quotes his publisher on the truth of the book as saying "His life is in his books." Then the writer quotes a stunning passage in his second memoir Dry where the writer's dad and he are fighting in a car and the dad says, "You make crap up" and then crushes a lit cigarette onto Burroughs' forehead leaving a scar between his eyes (a la Harry Potter) that the writer tries very, very hard to see but can't. Did it really happen, he asks the writer? "I'm not sure to this day. I think so. I hope not. But my father was sadistic. He was emotionally cruel." He's NOT SURE if his dad ground a lit cigarette into the writer's head. Liar, liar, liar. His mom has a website. His adopted family has a website and is suing -- and a spokesperson for their dad's organization makes them sound flaky in the extreme, so clearly there's some kernel of truth in there. But the movie comes out this year and Augusten Burroughs, it seems, is a big, fat liar.
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6 comments:
I thought the book read fishy too. He isn't sure if his dad crushed a cigarette onto his forehead as an adult? That's absurd.
You're just jealous because his life is more colorful than yours.
my goodness. people these days. why would you care even if he did make it up. i love the book and i dont care whether or not any of it actually happened...and quite frankly i dont think it should matter. what person doesnt exploit aspects of their life for the sake of a good story? i would be bored if everyone just told truthful accounts of every event in their life.
does it effect you or not if it's not true?
infact, if it wasn't true there would be more of a controversy and more public news.
also, he was a depressed alcoholic so he wouldn't exactly remember most of his life except what he wrote down in his journals. and of course he's going to believe what he wrote down at the time also.
i highly doubt he made it all up.
in the beginning of the book it says names have been changed and some events have been altered and characters combined, but for the most part, its true so get over it. life isnt always peachy.
You fail.
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