A wolf at the table

a memoir

242 pages

English language

Published Dec. 18, 2008 by St. Martin's Press.

ISBN:
978-0-312-34202-9
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OCLC Number:
191763295

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(4 reviews)

PREQUEL TO THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER RUNNING WITH SCISSORSFrom the author: 'My father doesn't feature much in Running with Scissors. And one of the reasons for this is because he didn't feature much in my life. But there's another reason, too: Our relationship was so complicated, so dark, so confusing and so big, that to tell the story would require a book. So finally, upon the death of my father in 2005, I decided to tell the story I have been most afraid yet most compelled to tell. 'This prequel to international hit Running With Scissors tells the story of Augusten's relationship with his tormented father: a man who sent his wife mad and saw his other son run away from home, prior to Augusten going into foster care. Harrowing, insightful and amusing by turns.

3 editions

Review of 'A wolf at the table' on 'Goodreads'

I have read several books by the author in the past, and have really enjoyed his work. I knew his talent lay in memoirs, and I had heard that this was slight deviation from his other works. That didn't prepare me for this utterly shocking recollection of a childhood filled with trauma and horror. I can't image the sheer terror that Burroughs dealt with every day in his most formative years, and how he pushed through the difficulties that obviously followed him into adulthood. It was heartbreaking but very powerful in the way that the stories were constructed. I didn't walk away from this book with feelings of anger or horror. Just a profound sadness for the love that Burroughs was deprived.

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Subjects

  • Burroughs, Augusten -- Family
  • Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Biography