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| Magical Thinking: True Stories | 
 enlarge | Author: Augusten Burroughs
Publisher: audible.com
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $10.48
You Save: $9.47 (47%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 6414379
Media: Audio Download
ASIN: B0006IU39Y
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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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...
 Graphic Animal Torture is Comedy? November 12, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
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.
Very good book September 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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!
Works Comedic Magic September 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Intriguing, a little disturbing August 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Augusten Burroughs does not come across as what you'd call a "nice person," but he's so very honest, funny, and sometimes self-deprecating that the reader can't help being on his side, as he battles a crazy cleaning lady, kills a mouse in his tub, and moves in and out of quasi-relationships with gorgeous, but unsuitable men. And frankly, he appeals to that deep, dark, mean corner we all have suppressed inside, that place where we want to make a snide comment about someone's fatt butt or stupid hairdo. I adore how he hated sickeningly perfect Raoul on their first date, and his description of his schoolteacher in the opening chapter was a delight.
When Dennis enters the picture, we see Augusten's tender side, his appreciation for another's vulnerability, and we start to think perhaps Augusten has been holding out on us, letting us see only his vanity/insecurity polarity, his delayed-reaction remorse for mouse-killing and child-frightening, keeping this kinder Augusten hidden until the time is right.
While reading this book, I couldn't help thinking that I'd love to have him over for dinner, but I wouldn't let him babysit my child.
Augusten Burroughs is a great writer and enigmatic presence on the literary scene.
as good as the others. August 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you enjoy his writing, you will enjoy this one. It made me laugh out loud and giggle after wards.
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