Critics were deeply divided, and the book received some of the worst -and best- reviews of the author's career. The brutal, terrifying and decidedly unfunny book instantly generated a storm of publicity and controversy. Twice honored by Entertainment Weekly as one of 25 funniest people in America, Burroughs shocked fans and the media alike with the release of A Wolf at the Table in early 2008.

In addition, Burroughs speaks regularly at colleges and universities on topics ranging from alcoholism and sexual abuse to the art of authoring one's own life and humor as serious medicine. He has also headlined for the most prestigious literary festivals in the world, most recently the 2008 Melbourne writer's Festival, where he and Germaine Greer delivered the keynote addresses on opening night. Currently published in over thirty countries, Augusten's book readings have become massively popular events on numerous continents.

He has since published four additional autobiographical volumes (Dry, Possible Side Effects, Magical Thinking and A Wolf at the Table), all of them bestsellers. The film, starring Annette Benning, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh and Alec Baldwin was released in 2005. The memoir would ultimately remain on the New York Times bestseller list for over four consecutive years, eight months of which were spent in the #1 position. Running with Scissors was released in 2001 to virtually unanimous critical acclaim. It was also a publishing phenomenon that helped to ignite a kind of memoir fever in America and abroad. It is currently in development as a feature film.Īugusten's second book was a memoir. And Sellevision stands as Burroughs's only published novel.

Never outlining or consciously structuring the book, Burroughs wrote, 'as fast as I could type, to keep up.' Seven days later, Augusten Burroughs had written his first book. But spurned by a compulsion he did not understand, Burroughs began to write a novel. A very successful advertising copywriter for over seventeen years, he was also an alcoholic who nearly drank himself to death in 1999. Augusten Burroughs born Christopher Robison, son of poet and writer Margaret Robison and younger brother of John Elder Robison.īurroughs has no formal education beyond elementary school.

Dry augusten