Running With Scissors

Reading this memoir felt like watching a car crash — I wanted to look away, but I just couldn't. It was a heart-wrenching glimpse into how mental illness affects those around you. As his parents' marriage falls apart, 12-year-old Augusten's mother seeks help from a therapist, and thus begins the end of normalcy in Augusten's childhood. As his mother spirals deeper into her own insanity, she determines she cannot care for her son herself, and decides that he will stay with the doctor “temporarily.” Except that Dr. Finch — and most of his family — are mentally ill as well, and allow several of his patients to reside in their home with them. They live in squalor and believe that children should be able to control their own lives, whether that means skipping school, attempting suicide, or forming inappropriate relationships with pedophiles. Despite the author's attempts at humor, this was not a light book, and parts of it were very difficult to read.