A short life of the author
Augusten Xon Burroughs (b. 23 October 1965) was born Christopher Richter Robison in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His mother, the poet Margaret Robison, gave him to her psychiatrist, Dr. Rodolph Turcotte, whose household — overcrowded, unsupervised, and presided over by a man who believed he received divine messages through his bowel movements — became the setting of Running with Scissors. He changed his name, moved to New York, and became an advertising copywriter before turning to writing.
Life and Career
Sellevision (2000) — a satirical novel about a home-shopping network — was his fiction debut. Running with Scissors (2002) was the memoir that made him famous, recounting his surreal, terrifying childhood with a black humour that drew comparisons to David Sedaris and Mary Karr. The Turcotte family sued, and the case was settled; Burroughs maintained that the memoir was true.
Dry (2003) — about his alcoholism and recovery in New York — was praised as one of the best addiction memoirs ever written. Magical Thinking (2004) was an essay collection. A Wolf at the Table (2008) — about his relationship with his absent, violent father — was his darkest book. Lust & Wonder (2016) covered his romantic life, culminating in his marriage to Christopher Schelling.
Major Works and Themes
Burroughs writes about damage — his own, and the damage done by people who are supposed to protect children but don’t. His signature is the ability to find comedy in genuinely horrific material without trivialising the horror. His prose is direct, conversational, and structured around set pieces of escalating absurdity.
Key Works
- Running with Scissors (2002)
- Dry (2003)
- A Wolf at the Table (2008)
- Lust & Wonder (2016)
Collecting Burroughs
Running with Scissors (2002, St. Martin’s Press) first edition brings $15–$40. Dry (2003, St. Martin’s) brings $10–$30.