Impresario: What’s What With … Augusten Burroughs
New York Times bestselling author Augusten Burroughs just released a new book, A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father. But while his oddly comedic Running With Scissors amused a hefty following of voyeurs — and scored a movie deal starring Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow and, oh yeah, elicited charges of fabrication — Burroughs’s latest chronicle carries a darker tone. We talked to him about reliving memories, writing about the past and being called a liar. Catch him at the Free Library this Saturday. — Cheryl McEvoy
The new book — about your distant, alcoholic father — is being touted as a much more serious book than Running With Scissors. Do you think fans will miss the laughs?
I think some fans will and others will embrace the tone. A lot of people don’t have great fathers. The statistics on abuse are just incredible … But it’s a darker book, it’s a more intense book … It was just bald earnestness. I think some people may shake this book and say, “Hey, the funny’s broken,” but I think far more people will relate to it.
Are you trying to give people hope?
A good memoir, I believe, is when you come across a passage that explains exactly how you felt, it makes you feel like you’re not alone in the world and immediately connected … But I always write for myself. I don’t write what I think readers will like. And people nod at the truth.
Your new memoir is already being scrutinized for falsified facts. How do you deal with that?
Frankly, I welcome the scrutiny … I think [fabrication] cheapens the memoir, especially for people who are trying to write about their experiences and the truth. I think the press, what they do is miss the forest and the trees and just look at the bark. Like “You said you wore blue pants, but we called the manufacturer, and they only make the pants in brown and green.” But I have a good memory … I’ve had a crazy life — I don’t need to make things up.
Your website contains pictures from your childhood. Kinda eerie, actually. Do you find it hard to put your life on display?
It’s counterintuitive, but I don’t — only because I’ve written so many memoirs. There are stories I wish I hadn’t wrote … But for every [story], people come up to me and say “Me too, me too, me too.” Some people see me as a freak, but some people relate to it. People are very embracing of honesty.
Any regrets? Do you feel like you’re exploiting people from your childhood?
I don’t regret anything I’ve written. I regret the way I come off sometimes. There’s a distinction there … Whenever you write about family, you accept the risk that they may lash out. You don’t know how people will respond. But I feel I have the right to write about my life. What makes it worth it is getting to that human truth.
How do you deal with the emotions that bubble up when you’re writing?
It can be harrowing. Writing A Wolf at the Table was a very physical process. It was draining. My hands were cold and shaking like I was outside. I spent many years of my life trying to avoid discomfort and to avoid memories, but you just have to fly into like a hurricane. My memory is a double-edged sword — I can remember being eight months old … but the memories are also very vivid. When I’m writing, I don’t leave the house if I don’t have to. Maybe it’s my nature from when I used to drink — I become consumed by it until it’s done. And then I don’t write at all.
