Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Picking this book up with the recommendations of two friends as well as the constant reminder of having to read a genre requirement for the third quarter of school, I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. And that's in a good way. While reading, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the growth of Augusten, as well as him plainly as a character. And I've got to say, he's probably my favorite character out of ANY book I've read this year, even including Don Quixote himself! Why though? Well, he starts as a pathetic little boy with a crazy mother (for the lack of better words) and an alcoholic father. The two got in so many fights, Augusten would fear for his mother's life. Trying to cope with this, Augusten became obsessed with many things. First, his hair. A bad hair day was considered a better excuse to get out of school than a strep throat! Second, his clothing. His clothing had to be perfectly ironed--even one wrinkle would warrant an immediate fit on Augusten's part. Third, shiny things. The boy boiled coins to make them shinier and used his allowance to buy squares of mirror, which he put around his room! He also decided at a very young age that he would be a doctor or an actor. A doctor because he liked the pristine white coat, or an actor because he wanted to be a star. Preferably, he would be an actor who plays a doctor.

What childhood could possibly make that boy, obsessed with everything tidy and shiny, become a writer? What could possibly make him become one of the Finches, the family of his mother's psychiatrist? You'll have to read to find out. And don't worry, the ride won't be boring. Not at all.