In this unforgettable, and by turns hilarious and harrowing memoir, Augusten Burroughs recounts the bizarre events of his childhood. After his parents’ divorce, his mother, a delusional poet, left him in the care of her psychiatrist, a man who might have benefited from a little therapy himself.

Suddenly, at age twelve, Augusten found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian mansion with the doctor’s bizarre family and a few patients. In the psychiatrist’s house, there are no rules, only chaos. The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, Valium was eaten like Pez and, if things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock-therapy machine under the stairs…

Running with Scissors is a true story, compelling and maniacally funny. Above all, it chronicles an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.