I couldn’t get into it.

I think it is as true as he saw it. I am writing my memoir for my MFA. I have asked my sisters did this happen and they will be like well close but no. I have written about my military time and other guys wrote on a post how they did this or that and I am like um no. So I think it is true but only from his point of view.

Did you read a wolf at the table

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I haven't read it but I'm working on a memoir (first draft is finished) and I worry a lot people will think I'm lying or that it's too detailed. In my case I've kept a detailed journal since childhood so I've had a lot to refer back to

Probably about as accurate as the recent film Weird: The True Story of Weird Al Yankovic.

Ass burgers.

Everyone is a hero in their own story.

Thanks! I’ll check them out. I heard good things about Jeanette McCurdy’s memoir.

I think the difference between Sedaris & Burroughs is that things just seem to happen to Burroughs but Sedaris kinda brings the weird shit to him. 😂

That was written by Augusten's brother, John Elder Robeson. It is special in its own right. One certainly informs the other.

Yes, I do believe that their life stories are mostly true, especially in Burroughs' first memoir, Running with Scissors. I'm not so sure I'd agree with my statement for each of the consecutive books.

They are a special kind of family. Kind of like the Sedaris's on steroids. Or acid.

I had moments of disbelief - and wondered if he was exaggerating or making things up. I think his siblings said he was.

Note that it's a memoir. By definition, a memoir is "This is what I remember".

Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. And maybe the guilty as well.

Also keep in mind that it is human nature to never let anything as inconvenient as facts get in the way of a good story.

With all that as background, Look Me In The Eye, by Burroughs' brother John Roberson reads very similarly. So you're looking at fictionalized truth or an impossible (based on my extensive interactions with people with ADD) conspiracy.

Note also that the estate of Burroughs' foster family sued him for libel. They settled out of court (so we can't know what they agreed to) and future editions of the book say that although the foster family remembers things differently, this is what Burroughs remembers. Burroughs said he felt vindicated by the settlement.

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I know that I wouldn't be able to trust my memory enough to ever write something close to a memoir. The level of shit I went through was such that I don't remember a big gap of my past. Like, my first real memories start when I was 14/15. I've heard stories, I've been told things, but I know now that the person who told me all of those things was a very unreliable narrator himself. So, I don't know what to believe. But I have proof of some of the things that happened and I can make leaps from there.

I read Running With Scissors a long, long time ago, but I remember enjoying it and not questioning much at the time.

You should read his older brothers book, “Look me in the eye!” His older brother had undiagnosed Aspergers syndrome. He would later *be the engineer behind KISS’s fire guitars.

I came to mention this. Like, John once put him upside down in a post-hole when he was a toddler. And iirc John witnessed their father putting out a cigar on Augusten when he was just a baby.

Just because it didn’t happen doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

I love this book, I relate very strongly to a lot of it. But, Augusten Burroughs has written multiple memoirs, including a few that are short story collections. He’s gotta be making some of it up. How much of Running with Scissors is made up as opposed to what isn’t is hard to say. Some of the real life Finches and Burroughs’ family have denied it, there were lawsuits, etc. But of course, they would, as it makes all of them look bad to varying degrees. I figure, whether every word if it is documented fact or some of it is artistic license, the emotions and the writing of it rings true.

No worries. Hope you find some good examples. :)

Speaking as a trauma survivor, I've written down some of what happened to me and I've always tried to be as accurate as possible with what I've written, because I don't think anyone would believe what happened to me. Of course, trauma survivors are not all the same, but I think a lot of us experience gaslighting and we end up having to defend against that, even if it's just grappling with it in our own minds.

I have read a lot of his books, I think he tells a good story but there has just got to be a healthy handful of embellishment.

Magical thinking especially.

Still enjoyable reads though.

Also the movie they made of running with scissors is fun. Particularly the scene where 'blinded by the light' plays.

I came looking for this comment.

“…in aaaaahaaal-buquerque.., QUERQUE!”

Sorry. I didn’t think at first that I was asking for recommendations, but I can see now how it’s basically the same.

I don’t think it matters much either way really. Just enjoy it or don’t. Events can be embellished or imagined and still carry truth