In the first chapters of 'Running with Scissors,' young Augusten Burroughs is a neat-freak who believes he is destined to become a superstar. Augusten looks up to his mother who is a poet. He already knows that his father is an alcoholic due to the fact that he immediately pours a drink after work and watches television by himself. Being the only sibling still living with his parents, Augusten roams from room to room around his big house in rural Massachusetts, all by his lonesome. As his memories of his childhood pour out onto paper, turning the pages in the book becomes addicting. The only times you will want to take a break from the novel is for food, showering, or to go to the bathroom (even though I found myself reading the book while on the john).

As the story moves along, Augusten's life is centered round his mother's mental health. Constantly going in and out of manic phases, his mother sends him off to live with the far-from-normal family of her psychiatrist, Dr. Finch (Augusten calls them the Finches). He lives among Dr. Finch's patients and biological and adopted children. Tidy and hygienic Augusten finds himself shockingly fitting in with the messy and bizarre family.

Besides his mother, another crucial plot to this journal-like story is that Augusten is gay. His mother is not at all shocked after hearing he is a homosexual and, of course, the nonconforming Finch family accepted him with open arms.

The book surely is like no other. It is mind-boggling how a memoir can seem so surreal, like waking up from a dream and laughing at how your subconscious mind could gather up such a strange vision. It is a laugh-out-loud nonfiction novel with serious moments weaved in the right places.