28.2.11

You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs

You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs
Stars: 3/5

Overall
This book is a combination of the bizarre, the sad, and the bitterly sweet. Starting in his childhood (skipping those Running With Scissors years), and ending as an adult, we follow Burroughs through some crazy holiday stories, which is no surprise to those familiar with Burroughs' other books.

While I enjoyed this book, it's definitely not my favorite, although it is a quaint (is that the right word?) collection. My favorite story of the bunch is definitely the last, which shows Burroughs and his partner facing the unimaginable for Christmas and overcoming themselves and their obstacles.

Burroughs' writing is good, like always, and his narrative voice remains strong as he wavers between amusing anecdote and heart-breaking reality. To readers not familiar with Burroughs' other works, these will feel like stories from the land of misfits with a pornographic twist (although the stories themselves are not pornographic). For his fans, these will be glimpses into his life, filling into more holes of his very thorough autobiographical(ish) books.

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