Augusten Burroughs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer noted for his New York Times best-selling memoir Running with Scissors (2002), which spawned a feature film of the same name written and directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Joseph Cross as Burroughs.
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[edit] Biography
Burroughs is the son of the late John G. Robison, a former philosophy professor at the University of Massachusetts, and poet and writer Margaret Robison, who sent Burroughs to live with her psychiatrist's unorthodox family in western Massachusetts.[1] Some of his childhood experiences were chronicled in Running with Scissors which spurred a June 2005 lawsuit in which the Turcotte family of Cambridge, Massachusetts, claimed various family members, particularly Dr. Rodolph Turcotte, Burroughs' former legal guardian, were defamed in the book, in the guise of the fictional, eccentric Finch family.[2] The family recently settled with Sony.[3]
Burroughs dropped out of school after sixth grade, obtained a GED at age 17 and secured a high-paying advertising industry job before leaving the field to become a successful writer. His writing centers around the fantastic and the mundane, which he delivers in a matter-of-fact style. In addition to Scissors, Burrough penned a second memoir, Dry (2003) about his experience during and after alcohol rehabilitation, and the novel Sellevision (2000), which is currently in production as a feature film. [4][5]
His writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers around the world including The New York Times, House and Garden, Blackbook, New York Magazine, The Times, Bark, Attitude, Out and a monthly column for Details magazine. Early in his career he was a regular commentator for NPR's Morning Edition.
Burroughs himself has been extensively profiled in People Magazine, The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly where he ranked No. 15 on the 2005 list of "The 25 Funniest People in America" and was named to that magazine's definitive "It List."
In 2005, Universal Pictures and Red Wagon Productions, bought the rights to a film based on a future memoir about Burroughs' complex relationship with his father. Burroughs is developing an original, hour-long weekly series for the Showtime network.
Burroughs lives in New York, New York, and Amherst, Massachusetts, with his partner of many years, Dennis Pilsits, and their two French bulldogs, Bentley and The Cow.
[edit] Bibliography
- 2000 - Sellevision (ISBN 0-312-26772-X) (fiction)
- 2002 - Running with Scissors (ISBN 0-312-28370-9)
- 2003 - Dry (ISBN 0-312-42379-9)
- 2004 - Magical Thinking (ISBN 0-312-31594-5)
- 2006 - Possible Side Effects (ISBN 0-312-31596-1)
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Augusten Burroughs: Mad, brilliant and dangerous to know
- ^ Lawsuit targets 'Scissors' memoir
- ^ Sony Settlement
- ^ Sellevison
- ^ In 'Sellevision,' expect silly, not satire
[edit] External links
- Augusten Burroughs Personal Site
- Augusten Burroughs Interview: Why James Frey Is Like Milli Vanilli
- Disclaimer Tacked Onto Burroughs' Latest Memoir as Publishers Take No Chances
- Dr. Rodolph Turcotte's Site ('Dr Finch')
- Burroughs' mother - a poet and author
- Suit Says 'Running With Scissors' Cut From Whole Cloth
- Augusten Burroughs' Mother Speaks Out at NPR
