The author's a psycho.
http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2007/01/burroughs200701
All this article says is that the family is denying things were that bad. I assume that if they were that bad that they WOULD want to deny them-because its really messed up. Would you want everyone in the world to know your deep family secrets? probably not.
Besides, there was this part that makes me feel like the family is just ashamed:
"Burroughs claims he has roughly 20 notebooks in which he kept a journal of his experiences between the ages of 12 and 17 that back up his story, and he says he has continued to keep these journals with him. Family members confirm that Burroughs wrote constantly when they knew him. There is also an extensive public record regarding Dr. Turcotte, a highly controversial psychiatrist whose license to practice medicine was stripped in 1986 due to allegations of deeply disturbing behavior."
That's part of what Burroughs lied about. He only lived there for about a year and a half when he was around 15.
sharewhy are they lies when they could be his "own" interpretation of the events
shareBurroughs was "adopted" by Dr. Finch when he (Burroughs) was just 13. He lived with the Finches for 3 years.
ARH: I don't think at any time Burroughs has claimed he originated the phrase "running with scissors." He simply thought it would be a good title for his memoirs.
As for both sides claiming victory in the lawsuit, the Turcottes got this:
From the "Acknowledgments" statement at the beginning of the book:
"I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent, and hardworking people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of "Running With Scissors." "
It's interesting to note that Burroughs puts this in the context of the present-day Turcotte family--his statement doesn't include the actual psychiatrist, Dr. Turcotte, who died in 2000
FrameXFrame: No, one of the Turcottes takes credit for the phrase in the Vanity Fair article.
On page 3:
"Looking back on what she said to him, she believes she may have even given him the title for the book. In talking about her job, she remembers, she had told him about a community health project that involved making a massive quilt. Some of the teenagers charged with cutting out the drawings for the quilt 'were running around with scissors,' she says she had told him, and she recalls how Burroughs had said, 'Wait a minute,' clearly captivated by the phrase. In the book, Burroughs says the phrase himself as a teenager."
In the article they actually confirm a lot of stuff from the book (Natalie's relationship with Terrance for example).
I like how the one takes credit for the phrase "Running with Scissors" as if everyone in the western world hadn't heard it a million times before the book was even published!
shareBeing a liar when writing something doesn't exactly make someone a psycho -- just a liar trying to sell a book.
But, while I found the stories outrageous, apparently the family lost their fight against Augusten because he had enough evidence to cooberate his stories. Although, with any memoir, you have to know that memories are always tainted by our own perceptions of events and take it with a grain of salt. But I now believe that many of the events in the book happened, though some of it may have been exaggerated. Doesn't make him a psycho. That psychiatrist lost his license due to the outrageous things he did.
Both sides declared victory in the settlement.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6473285.html
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I consider this a piece of entertainment rather than a biopic. Of course, I say the same about most biopics. Whether the specific or even the generalities of this film were accurate matters less to me than the entertainment value of the film, which was considerable.
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Thanks so much for providing the link to that article. I read the article with an open mind, and perhaps a great deal of trust in the family interviewed in the article-- the book had some pretty over-the-top incidents, so it wouldn't surprise me if some parts were all-out lies.
After reading the article however, I found very little to condemn Burroughs about. It appears that two specific incidents are contested by the family: the destruction of the ceiling and the little kid squatting under the piano and defecating.
If this is in fact true, I think I can totally live with it. The fact that the REST of the stuff IS true is huge--and really the crux of the entire book.
I am very sorry that Burroughs didn't properly hide the identity of the family. While he did change their name, as the article states, by mentioning the city, state, and surrounding streets, he pretty much paints a bullseye on them.
The sisters interviewed in the novel seem to be suffering from their own set of psychological issues (no doubt brought on by their father), the fact that Theresa had to repeatedly go to the emergency room for anxiety shows me that her own issues may run deep as well.
Ultimately, what I found interesting is that to me, Burrough's book paints the family very positively. Although they are weird, he talks of them affectionately, not with malice. They're eccentric, but in the end, it's clear that they all have good hearts.
It's very sad to think that a psychiatrist like "Dr. Finch" was allowed to practice for as long as he did.
Personally, I am amazed that Augusten Burroughs is as sane as he is, growing up with the parents he had and with Dr. Finch's influence.
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