I confess that I discovered Augusten Burroughs a little late in the game, falling in love with Magical Thinking and then I subsequently devouring Dry and Running With Scissors. Hillary and I went to see Burroughs speak on Tuesday night, as he promoted his new collection of sure-to-be-hilarious shorts, Possible Side Effects. He read one amusing story from the book but the real treat was the q and a session, where Burroughs managed to be both tremendously inspiring and absolutely hilarious. He filled us in on all his upcoming projects - the next book will be a collection of true Christmas-themed stories, which will be followed by a memoir about his relationship with his father; Burroughs called it "my dead daddy book." There will also be a novel - Burroughs' first since Sellevision - and a series he is developing for Showtime. "It's been done before," he said of his television concept, "but it's never been done right." Many of those in attendance had questions of the Running With Scissors film, which hits theaters in September. Burroughs discussed his extreme hesitation about a Running With Scissors film, and how a meeting with writer/director Ryan Murphy inspired him to go forward with it. He added that Annette Benning and Jill Clayburgh give the "performances of their lives." 
Now I'm anxious to go and read Possible Side Effects and interested in our reader's thoughts as well. I know our pal Jacquie at Artifacts is a fan, while the brilliant Dry is on the phenomenal reading list at Rewriteable Content. Janet Maslin, of the New York Times Book Review says it "is slight in subject matter and shaky in chronology. (The essays jump back and forth through time; certain facts are repeated arbitrarily.) It's less spiky than Magical Thinking. But it's also more inviting and less forced, perhaps because there is less at stake here."As Burroughs signed our books, I told him how meeting him on the Magical Thinking book tour had inspired me to get back into writing. He seemed genuinely happy to hear this, and even added a personal message on the title page, urging me to "write, write, write, write." In briefly speaking with us, Burroughs' presence was so warm and kind that I left the store feeling so good, wanting to devote an even greater amount of time to my creative goals.
::Photo Source::
1 Bill Thompson's Eye On Books
6 comments:
Thanks for the shout! Great post. Can't wait to read his new stories.
Oh goody - another new (to me) author to check out. How great is it that he took the time to be so encouraging to you? You have to love it when people take a genuine interest like that.
No relation to William S, I assume?
No relation to William ... but very, very worth checking out.
I haven't read anything by him, but Jacquie is a fan. He's had one helluva life, that's for sure. Tragic, yet inspiring.
Very cool - I've just read "Magical Thinking" and was going to get "Running with Scissors" this weekend.
Good luck with your own writing!
Thanks for the great notes about your evening with Burroughs (and for the nod!)It sounds to me like he is genuinly giving of his time and self in person. I will have to read the latest as soon as I can pick it up, I am a reader of his for life.
Running With Scissors just broke my heart. I just wanted this boy to be alright. His humor and way of looking at the world struck a chord with me (and many others).
I have never read any writer who affected me emotionally so deeply, after reading Dry, I was quite, quite upset as if over a friend you can't help.
It seems to me that in spite of it seeming impossible to see this as a movie, they will do a good job.
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