Possible Side Effects

Hilarious and sad stories about the author's extremely messed up childhood, and attempts at recovery. ( )

AB is always such a pleasure to read. His stories are heartbreakingly honest, but he still manages to always maintain the light-heartedness you'd want in a friend. I've read several of Burroughs's memoirs by now, and they always make me laugh, make me cry, and help me feel less alone. ( )

I laughed out loud more times than I could count, and the final essay left me with tears streaming down my face while I could hardly catch my breath for my guffaws. There were also moments of deep-felt recognition of the truth of his pain and the pain suffered by folks struggling to survive addiction and mental illness, whether their own or otherwise. More than anything I've ever read, this captures the dichotomy of having grown up in a home whose occupants struggle with addiction, mental illness, or abuse.

Fair warning, this is going to be too grim for some folks. The humor is mixed in with the tragedy in a way that may leave many uncomfortable. While his humor is mostly directed at himself, it isn't always, and many may, quite legitimately, find it mean.

For me, it was a relief to laugh with someone who understands what it means to survive by laughing in the face of darkness. ( )

I read this after already having finished Running With Scissors and Dry and Augusten Burroughs proves he can still be massively entertaining, moving, and hilarious in the narrative-essay medium as well as the memoir medium. ( )

"Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer..."

Ick. ( )