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| Magical Thinking : True Stories | 
 enlarge | Author: Augusten Burroughs
Publisher: Picador USA
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $5.39
You Save: $8.61 (62%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 204610
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9
ASIN: B000GQLCQY
Publication Date: October 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book.
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Amazon.com Review
Its best to know this from the start: Augusten Burroughs is mean. Augusten Burroughs is also outrageously X-rated. If you can get past those two things, Burroughs might just be the most refreshing voice in American books today, and his collection of acerbic essays will have you laughing out loud even while cringing in your seat. Whether he is stepping on the fingers of little children or giving you the blow-by-blow on a very unholy act, Burroughs manages to do it in a way that fills conflicted fans with both horror and glee. Spanning from the surprisingly Machiavellian portrayal of his role in a Tang commercial at age seven to his more recent foray into dog ownership, Burroughs has what seems to be an endless supply of offbeat life experiences. Much like earlier David Sedaris collections (Barrel Fever or Naked), there are occasional fits and starts in the flow of the writing, but ultimately, Magical Thinking is worth reading (and re-reading). If youre familiar with Burroughs's memoirs, Running with Scissors, and Dry, you may find parts of Magical Thinking repetitive, since these essays bounce around in time between the other two. In fact, in an ideal world, this collection would have come first, as it offers an excellent introduction to Burroughs's fascinating life. --Vicky Griffith
Product Description
From the number-one bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry comes Augusten Burroughs's most eagerly anticipated collection yet: true stories that give voice to the thoughts that we all have but dare not mention.It begins with a Tang Instant-Breakfast Drink television commercial:"Yes, you, Augusten. You were great. We want you." I can now trace my manic adult tendencies to this moment. It was the first time I felt deeply thrilled about something just a fraction of an instant after being completely crushed. I believe those three words "We want you" were enough to cause my brain to rewire itself, and from then on, I would require more than other people....- from Magical Thinking's "Commercial Break"A contest of wills with a deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. A different kind of "roof work." Dating an undertaker who shows up in a minivan. This is the fabric of Augusten Burroughs's life: a collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate, stories that shine a flashlight into both dark and hilarious places. With Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs goes where other memoirists fear to tread.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 160 more reviews...
 Magical, indeed October 23, 2004
47 out of 59 found this review helpful
"Magical Thinking", while autobiographical, is not a chronological memoir like "Running With Scissors" & "Dry." Instead, it is a collection of personal anecdotes in a sort of essay format, which makes for easy reading. Unlike his memoirs, which I found extremely difficult to put down, there are definite starts & stops. When a particular chapter is over, it's over. The next one begins anew. And there is the only criticism that I can level at this collection: had I not read his memoirs, I would have had a really, really difficult time figuring out exactly when the incidents occured. Was he drinking at the time? Was he working in advertising? Is this post-"Dry" or pre-"Dry"? They are all post-"Running With Scissors" (he is an adult), but that's the only thing that's clear. (And therein is probably the root of the issue some have with the "rat-thing": it isn't clear without background knowledge that he was in an altered state and would never perform such an act while sober. It was a symptom of the disease of alcoholism, not an indicator of morality or character. And there, I've spent too much time on the "rat-thing.") This collection is such enjoyable reading - I laughed out loud, a lot, and I also teared up as well. Equal parts comedy & drama, a perfect combination.
Confessions of a self-promoting ex-adman February 22, 2005
23 out of 29 found this review helpful
If Augusten Burroughs ever makes a movie or gets to host his own reality TV show he might one day work his way into the center square of a future iteration of Hollywood Squares. He has the wit. He's a clever observer of contemporary mores. Add to this an ample supply of contempt for political correctness and a love for pushing the boundaries of taste. In the "true stories" that make up MAGICAL THINKING he manages to get away with virtual murder because half the time the target of his cutting satire is himself. Arranged somewhat chronologically, these stories read like outtakes from his memoirs RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. The collection begins with a story about his effort to achieve stardom at age seven when he was selected to be in a Tang commercial ("Commercial Break") and includes one about his studying to become a Barbizon model in his teens ("Model Behavior"). It includes frank stories about his dysfunctional family of origin, alcoholism, gayness, dating woes, relations with Catholic priests, boredom and frustration as an advertising copywriter, and even his "hygiene issues." "Debby's Requirements," one of my favorites in the collection, is a New York story about Burroughs' battle of wills with a domineering cleaning lady. In "The Rat/Thing" he takes the New York thing to extremes when he reveals what he will do to get rid of a rodent intruder. It's so extreme you can't help thinking he might be using his little domestic tempest in a teapot to describe something much larger--the obsessive Western mind (e.g., Bush v. Saddam). He both revels in and criticizes American obsession with celebrity culture and aspirational advertising. Shallowness (especially in gay men) is both scorned and celebrated. The collection ends on a slightly more reassuring note with several stories about a still-promising sounding relationship with a man named Dennis. I think we'll have to wait for the next collection of "true stories" to see how that one turns out.
 Magical Thinking February 28, 2005
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
Prior to reading his newest book, I considered Augusten Burroughs one of my favorite writers, I truly did- Running With Scissors, Dry, and even Sellevision I reccomended to numerous people, and even gave as gifts. So I was totally excited when another PC volunteer showed up with his latest, Magical Thinking.
Oh man...
Okay, the first thing... reading the other books, particularly the memoirs, I got the impression that Burroughs was a better storyteller than an actual writer. The tales of his crazy childhood and drug and alcohol addiction were incredible, but it often seemed like he was going for the obvious joke, or trying to hard to seem clever. But the books overcame it because the subject matter was so fascinating. Not so with this book. When Burroughs doesn't have huge subjects to deal with and instead is writing about everyday life, his shortcomings as a writer really come through. Simply put, his writing skills in this book come across as completely amateurish, and instead of being engaging he's simply obnoxious. You can tell that he cracks himself up, but it's not infectious.
Second, the whole "he's so mean!" issue. Yeah, the guy's a real prick. Maybe some people find that refreshing, un-PC, and appealing. Maybe I'm oversensitive. I don't know, all I can say is that I found the book incredibly mean-spirited and nasty-downright hateful. It's a constant theme in the book, him doing or wishing horrible things on people. I consider myself as having a thick skin, but it just really, really bugged me. It went way beyond normal.
Magical Thinking was a huge disappointment, to the point where I no longer want to be associated with Augusten Burroughs' books. It's the point of no return- I don't know if I've ever had such a negative reaction to a book I was so excited about. Give it a try if you like his other books, but keep in mind you might not like him very much at the end.
 Disappointing... October 15, 2004
16 out of 23 found this review helpful
I read Augusten's first two memoirs, Running with Scissors and Dry, and I adored them both; his hilarious and touching insights reminded me of David Sedaris, one of my favorite authors. I adore dark humor and connected deeply with these other two books. HOWEVER - this new collection of short stories is incredibly disappointing, and can hardly be called "humorous," dark or otherwise.
These stories reveal their author to be a shallow, boring, petty person, certainly not someone I can continue to respect the way I did after reading those first two books. In one chapter he talks about the annoying fat people he runs into in Key West, and then in another, contradicts himself by saying he's always had a special fondness for fat people. He talks about looking in the mirror at himself for hours, how judgmental he is, how he writes in his journal for eight hours a day about himself, and how he recently took steroids for cosmetic reasons. Yawn, yawn, a little barf, and more yawn.
I never really laughed-out-loud in the way I did when reading Running with Scissors and Dry. One of his stories - The Rat/Thing, in which he describes how he tortures and drowns a defenseless mouse he found in his bathtub - actually gave me a stomach ache and made me cry. And somehow he thought we'd find this entertaining in some way? Funny, even? Maybe Satan or Hitler could get a chuckle out of it, but certainly not anyone with a heart.
Nevertheless, the language is still pretty tight, and I have to give him his propers for at least being honest. And there are funny moments interlaced with the disgusting ones (which unfortunately grossly outweigh the former.)
Burroughs freely admits that he is "made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions." But considering that at the same time he comes across as horribly vain, shallow, and self-absorbed, this self-awareness only caused me to loathe him all the more. It's like he's saying, I know I'm a horrible person, but gee, you'll forgive me, right, because it's cute and endearing on me, and I had SUCH a hard time growing up? But No, Augusten. No, no, no, no, no. Try growing up and out of your eighth-grade-girl mentality. If this book were by a different author, I probably wouldn't be so hard on it, but after being so charmed by his first two memoirs, I couldn't help but wish I had never read this book. His "Magical Thinking" will leave you with a cold, hard, sad, and so, so disappointing dose of disenchantment.
Bottom line: Don't waste your money losing respect for this author. Or, if you absoloutely must, (and please, don't,) at least wait until it comes out in paperback.
Take it from someone who met him... October 22, 2004
15 out of 24 found this review helpful
First, let me say I'm not only a huge fan of Augusten's writing, but of the man himself. Second, I've read all of his books, and don't think this is his strongest - but I did love it.
I heard Augusten speak recently, and for those of you who are upset about Rat/Thing, you should know that he didn't even want it put in the book, because he KNEW it was awful. But what a lot of you might not realize is that this was when the man was DRUNK 24 hours a day. He said at the reading that he can look back on that experience and see just how deep in a hole he was - he didn't care about life, he had no compassion. Now, he said, he would NEVER even comprehend doing something like that. It wasn't an excuse, it was a fact: he was drunk out of his mind and didn't care about anything. So everyone - chill.
He is a wonderful person who has survived a horrible upbringing and a battle with alcoholism. We're all pink on the inside people - don't be so critical.
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