Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312315955
ISBN: 0312315953
Label: Picador
Manufacturer: Picador
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2005-10-01
Publisher: Picador
Release Date: 2005-09-15
Studio: Picador

It’s 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 you’re 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

Customer Rating:
Summary: Still Laughing
Comment: I've read "Running with Scissors" and "Dry," I thought these two books were too funny and the same goes for "Magical Thinking." If you don't get sarcasm or have a warped sense of humor this book is not for you. However, if you don't take things to literal you'll really enjoy this. It was very hard to put down. He tells a whole bunch of stories throughout his life that take place not in any specific order.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: HIlarious
Comment: Augusten Burroughs has lived a fascinating life, made more hilarious and fascinating by his story telling. It is a great introduction to his life and writing, although it was not the first to be published. His humor is self-deprecating and sometimes mean, yet still charming, witty and fun. We've all wanted to be able to be as forthright as Burroughs and this is a great way to live that vicariously through him.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Graphic Animal Torture is Comedy?
Comment: Ooookay. I'm glad I checked this one out of the library instead of wasting money on it.

I've previously enjoyed Burroughs' work. (Sellevision, Dry, Running With Scissors.) So I recognized the first chapter, with the admen for Tang coming to Burroughs' school) as something previously published in another book. I feel a little ripped off when I invest money and/or time into consuming the same content in multiple works.

And then came the "Rat/Thing" chapter, in which Burroughs describes torturing a white mouse which was unfortunate enough to find itself in his apartment. As a citydweller, I know unwanted pests spread disease and nibble wiring that causes fires, and I sympathize with the need to exterminate the tiny squatters as necessary. But Burroughs seems to take pleasure in this -- detailing how he sprayed a can of RAID on the mouse, noting how the chemical burns dulled the animal's eyes and made it frantic with pain. He then filled the bathtub it was in with scalding water and, getting creative, started flashing a lightbulb like a strobe light in the mouse's face until it had a seizure and died. Y'know, I didn't think there was a way to make glue traps seem humane, but Augusten Burroughs found one.

This is comedy writing?

I'm disgusted.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good book
Comment: I bought this book for my boyfriend and he LOVED the book, of course his sense of humor is close to the authors, but if you like the author you'll love the book!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Works Comedic Magic
Comment: I was standing in the bookstore aisle plucking books from the shelves and flipping pages when I came across 'Magical Thinking' and this line, "The year I snuck an interracial lesbian couple into the background of an American Airlines ad..." I read some more. I could have read the entire book while standing there. But, my whooping laughter would have disturbed my fellow readers. Burroughs puts on paper what most folks block from conscious thought. He presents such a can't-make-this-stuff-up life that one moment you don't believe it, then you wish you had been there to see it. Ever been intimidated by a cleaning lady-cum-personal assistant? Meet Debby. Ever fought a rodent or a roach in a NYC apartment? Meet the Mouse. Reading the stories will make you late for work, burn your dinner and ignore the kids fighting at your elbow. The writer has a rich talent for self-conflagration, as well as burning others with his wit. If there is a downside to this work, it's that all the boyfriends (except Dennis) seem to be the same beautiful-bodied man with slight variations. Warning: If the "f" word or descriptions of the male anatomy offend you, don't even pick up this book. After reading his caustic commentaries on his failed dates, I enjoyed the tender turn he takes in vignettes of his domestic relationship with Dennis. Dennis is the normal, stable part of the partnership. Burroughs remains dramatic and, well, crazy.

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