Saturday, December 5, 2009

You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs

You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs
  I’ve been in love with Augusten Burroughs for a long, long time.  It started off innocently enough; his first book Running with Scissors kept flirting with me by winking at me every time I passed it in Borders.  I kept reading fantastic reviews of it and I knew it was going to be a book I’d love.  I [...]

 

I’ve been in love with Augusten Burroughs for a long, long time.  It started off innocently enough; his first book Running with Scissors kept flirting with me by winking at me every time I passed it in Borders.  I kept reading fantastic reviews of it and I knew it was going to be a book I’d love.  I suppose you can judge a book by its cover.  I also knew that someday Running with Scissors was going to turn into a movie, and therefore, I couldn’t read the book until the movie came out.  [Side note: Since I'm also a huge movie fan, I can never read a book first, as the movie is always spoiled for me.  This is why I can't read any of the Harry Potter books until I see the last movie.  I know this sounds weird, but it works for me, because we all know that the book is almost always better than the movie.  For instance, consider The Godfather.]  After a long wait the movie came out and I could finally read the book, and when I finally did about three years ago, I fell hard for Augusten.  Not just because he was funny and could somehow make me laugh while describing his horrible and painful childhood, or that he was a great writer; I simply fell in love with him because he is a fellow dysfunctional family survivor.  If you’ve never read Augusten, then you need to do so right away, because he is downright fabulous.

augusten book

 St. Martin’s Press.  Cover Art by Phil Mazzone.

Augusten Burroughs has once again delivered with his latest book “You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas.”  I loved it so much I read it in one sitting the same day it came in the mail.  [Thank you St. Martin's Press for answering my prayers and sending me this book to review!]  I believe that everyone who has ever suffered through a terrible holiday will certainly appreciate and adore this book.  Augusten’s favorite holiday is Christmas and he shares seven Christmas stories from different periods in his lifetime, some sad, some tragic, and some downright awful.  I suspect even those who have managed to have “perfect” holidays [Just who are you people, and more importantly, what was it like?] year after year will likely find themselves in tears from laughing so hard after they finish this book.  Who can resist reading a story about Augusten waking up in horror besides a naked Frenchman dressed as Santa Claus inside the famous Waldorf Astoria?  Augusten has that rare ability to make us laugh while he is writing about the most horrible events imaginable.  He is one of the rare modern-day authors who is more addictive than chocolate.   

augusten-me-and-haven

Augusten, Me, and Haven Kimmel, 2009

You will be thrilled to hear that not one, but two other writers are mentioned in this book, and I myself couldn’t be happier to see their names in print.  I’m not saying who, but for those true fans of his, I’m sure you can guess!

When you grow up in a home of severe dysfunction like I have, you become more aware of other people who are suffering, or who have suffered in their lifetime.  Something in the way they carry themselves, something different in the eyes, and something in the face that gives it away.  I can spot a child of dysfunction a mile away, and many adult survivors as well.  Breaks my heart every time, because I know dysfunction is something that never leaves you, something you can never forget, and something you can’t ever fully recover from.  All of you other children of dysfunction, this song is for you!  I jogged to this song every other day in sixth grade gym class, and with each step I took, it made me feel strong and allowed me to count down the last years left living my nightmare.  I knew there would be an end, and that was how I survived it.  I have survived horrible things, and Augusten has survived much worse than I have, and we are still alive and kicking.  Get out, and start living life.  Just start by putting even one foot forward.  And if you can’t even make it that far, just go to the bookstore and BUY THIS BOOK!

Posted in Augusten Burroughs, book blogs, book reviews, books, bookworms, celebrities, Child Abuse, Christmas, family, famous writers, Memoir, novels, pop culture, reading, Running with Scissors, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas Tagged: Breaking news, childhood, Dysfunction, entertainment, holiday books, holidays, humor, life, memoirs, news, personal, www.augusten.com, You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs

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