A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by Augusten Burroughs
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Book Reviews of A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
Book Review: Very Annoying Read!
Summary: 1 Stars
This was one of the most annoying books I've ever read. I was waiting, until the bitter end, for the author to finally get around to what made his father such a monster. Mind you, his father was not effectionate nor involved in his son's life but that was, to a degree, the norm back in the 50's and 60's......the father was the bread winner and the mother held up the emotional aspects of their children's lives.
Having grown up with a bi-polar father myself, I know what it's like to live in a hellish home yet I don't whine as much as this author does.Het took random, insignificant situations that all parents find themselves in and he twisted them to paint himself as a victim. For example, he explains how his father took him to the store but would not allow him to throw junk food in the cart. SO WHAT!!! I'm a parent and I don't allow that either yet he described it as being so traumatic.
Aside from the fact that he comes off SO utterly whiny, the strangest parts, or rather, the creepiest parts of the story were that in which he explains his odd behaivor as a child. What is really screwed up is the way that he describes his lifestyle as an adult. I found that part more distrbing than anything his father or mother ever did.
Waste of time. I'd be willing to bet that half of you have lived through more traumatic up-bringings than this guy!
Book Review: I am now so over reading Augusten Burroughs memoirs
Summary: 3 Stars
What a disappointment! 'Running with Scissors' was brilliant. 'Dry' was quite good. But 'A Wolf at the Table' is really ... blah. In it the author describes his earliest memories as they relate to his immediate family, especially his father. Yes, his father was unstable and scary. And his mother suffered from mental health issues too. Certainly a young boy growing up in this environment would be frightened, sad and harbor intense childhood memories that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
But is all this so interesting that I would want to read a 200 page book on it? Well no. Most everyone has issues with their childhood, albeit Augusten Burrough's early childhood was worse than most. Later in life his father remarried and led a rather ordinary existence. I actually felt some empathy for the man. His first marriage was awful, and he suffered from severe psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis. His misery led him to do terrible things, with his son Augusten bearing the brunt. It was a sad situation all around. But the man wasn't quite the devil the author tried to portray him as.
Bottom line: a rather unnecessary memoir. Missable.
Book Review: "Prey knows when it has escaped"
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who love the wry wit and dark humor of Augusten Burroughs - beware. This is anything but wry wit and dark humor.
A gripping, emotional tale of a child growing up 'terrorized' by an alcoholic father, 'A Wolf At The Table' reads, to me, like a Department of Social Services case file for an emotionally abused child. But having grown up in the 70's and 80's myself, I can tell you that these kinds of things were not readily reported to DSS, unlike today.
Augusten Burroughs here recounts tales of his father: emotionally distant, physically suffering, alcohol addicted, and manic. What was merely 'hinted' at in his past memoirs, 'Running With Scissors' and 'Dry'; is fully fleshed out in detail after horrific detail of the emotional cruelty inflicted upon the author by his father.
There are, here and there, flashes of the brilliant irony that have made him a household name. But be warned - those flashes are few and far between....and bookended by tales of nothing short of a merciless childhood.
Highly recommended...if you can make it through 240 pages of sadness.
Book Review: Stunning
Summary: 5 Stars
Our local library had a display of books that been banned in various places and times, and "Running with Scissors" was included in the display. I didn't want to mess up the display by removing that book, so out of curiosity I went to the ssection that held his other books. The chilling cover caught my eye immediately. I too, thought it might be too emotionally difficult to read, but after one page, I read the entire book without stopping. I knew he had survived, but still, there was such an aura of cold dread written into the book, that I feared for him more with every turn of the page. The ending was heart-stopping. Reading only Augusten Burroughs humor, and even only "Running with Scissors", you don't see the complete, true miracle of his survival. "A Wolf at the Table" is unforgettable and unrelenting in the depth of both it's horror and love. This book, "Running with Scissors" and in fact all this man's writing should be required reading for parents. It is a primer on what children see and feel. If I ever see him in person, I will want to hug him tightly.Book Review: Brilliant - but not for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
This book will not be everyone's cup of tea - as can be seen by some of the reviews. This is not an enjoyable book and I did not find it funny in the slightest. It is sad, harrowing and disturbing. There are a couple of accounts of horrendous cruelty to animals.
The book will appeal to readers who are interested in psychology especially the effect on a child of emotional neglect, the effects of alcoholism on families and children, the effects of long term stress on children, the relationship between father and son when the father is emotionally unavailable, and the gradual loss of mental health under continuous stress. It is a stunning insight into horrendous family dysfunction.
Augusten's brutal honesty makes for a deeply personal, revealing and insightful memoir. He has laid himself bare, seemingly without concern as to whether what he's written will have commercial appeal - and I admire that. I take my hat off to him and think he richly deserves his success.