Running with Scissors

Growing up isn’t always easy and for Augusten Burroughs, childhood was the biggest struggle throughout his rocky and complicated life. Being raised by psychotic mother and alcoholic father made Augusten a non-gregarious and introverted person. In the New York Times best-selling memoir, ‘Running with Scissors’, Augusten Burroughs reveals his deranged adolescence. Augusten had a lot of hard times that made him struggle through his child and teen years but through it all he soon realizes that your family doesn’t define you and also you shouldn’t judge someone by what you see on the outside.
When Augusten was young he had an attraction to shiny, glittery things and he soon realized he wasn’t similar to other boys his age. He was very self reliant and was very closed off from society. Augusten hated school and was often ‘sick’ and didn’t attend. He was obsessed with his appearance and his hair. When Augusten was very young his parents got a divorce and his mother started to act crazy and began seeing a physiatrist, Dr. Finch. Dr. Finch was described as a jolly fat man who loved his patients, was gifted in his field and had 9 children. Dr. Finch soon becomes very involved in Augusten’s life and the more insane his mom gets, the more time he spends at the finch residence. The finches’ house is not at all what Augusten expected, it’s an unsanitary mess where raunchy terms are acceptable and a place that rats and roaches can call home. At first, Augusten is disgusted by these people and their house, but once he makes friends with Dr. Finch’ 14 year old daughter Natalie and starts dating his 33 year old adopted son, Neil he becomes just as unruly and misunderstood as the rest of the finches’. Natalie soon becomes Augusten’s excuse for doing drugs and drinking and they are always together causing some sort of mischief. Although Neil is almost 20 years older than Augusten, they have a long relationship it becomes apparent that Neil was taking advantage of Augusten. When