Possible Side Effects
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About this ebook
From Scribd: About the Book
In some studies, readers have reported convulsive laughter, sudden gasping, and a cloud of joyous cheer upon consumption. Be sure to ask your doctor about Possible Side Effects.
In this collection of essays, Augusten Burroughs—the million-copy bestselling author of Running with Scissors, Dry, and Magical Thinking—tackles the possible side effects of cause and effect. From his advertising career to his experiences as an amateur peeping Tom to dating after 30 to his good and evil grandmothers, no subject goes untouched by his clever pen.
This cautionary tale in essay form might be Burroughs’s most provocative collection of essays yet, and he weaves together humor and tragedy, with an eye toward those struggling to survive addiction and mental illness. With heartbreaking honesty, you'll be drawn into his life like a friend and offered moments that will make you laugh and make you cry.
Be forewarned and read the label: hilarious, troubling, and shocking results may occur.
Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Burroughs is the author of Running with Scissors, Dry, Magical Thinking: True Stories, Possible Side Effects, A Wolf at the Table and You Better Not Cry. He is also the author of the novel Sellevision, which has been optioned for film. The film version of Running with Scissors, directed by Ryan Murphy and produced by Brad Pitt, was released in October 2006 and starred Joseph Cross, Brian Cox, Annette Bening (nominated for a Golden Globe for her role), Alec Baldwin and Evan Rachel Wood. Augusten's writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers around the world including The New York Times and New York Magazine. In 2005 Entertainment Weekly named him one of "The 25 Funniest People in America." He resides in New York City and Western Massachusetts.
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Reviews for Possible Side Effects
774 ratings36 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The essays I enjoyed most appear early in the book, and, unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. Sure, there are humorous retellings of bad dates and samples of the personal ads Burroughs admits to writing while drunk and a history of Burroughs's experiences as an amateur peeping tom (which tops out when he realizes his office overlooks Uma Thurman's apartment), but there was something missing. I had several episodes of literary deja vu and repeatedly felt as though I had heard all of these stories before.I get it. Burroughs had a genuinely traumatic childhood, a debilitating addiction, and a long string of awful experiences in between, and those are things worth talking about...but it's getting kind of tired. This book didn't leave me feeling like I knew Burroughs any better than I did when I finished the last one--we already knew that his mother was bipolar and that he was a flamboyant child and that he has intimacy issues and unrealistically high expectations and...well, you get the picture--and that makes me wonder what the point was.Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Though many of these essays focus on Burroughs' childhood, they read easier than his memoir. He offers humorous spins on his advertising career, as well as dating after he turns 30.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not his best book but still, a light read and plenty of good laughs.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another brilliant and humorous collection of essays by Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors. His memories span from childhood to the recent past, covering a host of neuroses, his and his mother's. He has an amazing ability to make me laugh at his descriptions of his obsessions. Not a lot for me to say about this. Just: read it and his other books if you haven't. The tale of the romantic vacation at an out of the way inn that he took with his boyfriend Dennis is well worth the price. Or better, borrow it from a library. We also meet both Augusten's grandmothers -- one good, one "evil." I'm eagerly looking forward to his next book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More enjoyable than Running with Scissors, in my opinion. Augusten Burroughs has a talent in bringing his horribly dysfunctional past into his humorous writing without making things heavy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Augusten could write a recipe and I'd read it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An uneven book. A few of these stories are hilarious. Some are amusing. Others are offensive. The book starts out on a high note and descends. Too bad. There are two stories, however, which do stand out."Bloody Sunday" is the story of 8-year-old Augusten whose first tooth falls out while he was staying at his grandmother's house. When he learns that the Tooth Fairy is coming, he is truly mortified. This story is hysterical.In "Getting to No You", the author tells of his negative encounter on a blind date with another gay man. A very funny story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As with all of his other books, I enjoyed Possible Side Effects quite thoroughly. His wit and humor seep from the pages. What was different from this novel that I experienced in his other memoirs was a background approach with all of the emotional intensity that someone hyped up on nicorette and alcohol can be. I believe because of this, I didnt feel as drawn into the novel as his others. However, it was still a great read!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whenever I read anything by Augusten Burroughs I always find that I think to myself "I shouldn't be laughing so hard that tears come to my eyes but I am." Somehow he manages to make stories about life's tougher subjects easy to read and even funny. If you have a slightly dark sense of humor and are looking for something that is poignant as well as funny Augusten Burroughs will not disappoint you.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Entertaining series of short stories about Augusten Burrough's life. Includes his work in advertising, his partner, his family.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I absolutely loved this book! It's compiled of short stories by the author of funny and true stories of him growing up and just weird situations. I laughed out loud a few times. It was very interesting and worth the read. I will never get the picture out of my head of the dog being painted to race... classic.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still reading.......loving it so far!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More adventures in the life of Augusten Burroughs. Covers topics like dating after 30 to getting a bulldog that he and his partner name The Cow. Staying at a B&B that is run and owned by an avid doll collector which creeps him out. Trips to his Grandmother's on each side of the family during the summer, one who lavishes him with gifts and the other who is very stern. His voyeurism and spying on neighbors including a well known actress. Funny over all and certainly an enjoyable read. But like the others what to believe as truth and what not might be brought in to question.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For the most part I laughed all the way through this book. A few chapters ,especially towards the end, were a bit slow. It's not that they were boring just as the book went on the chapters were not as funny as the beginning. Some time ago I started reading "Running with Scissors" but had never finished it now I want to check it out again along with Burroughs other books. Well done and 4 thumbs up.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I don't think Burroughs is quite as funny or as good a writer as David Sedaris, but these stories are very funny and scratch the same itch.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I liked "Running with Scissors," but I loved this book! I read it in one weekend and was sad when it was over. I wanted more crazy, funny stories where Burroughs says everything we're all thinking but never say out loud. I actually found myself laughing out loud many times throughout the essays. I did appreciate how there was a sort of time line to the book- the essays seemed to go back in time- it was nice to know when you're reading about one of his first puppies, that it's okay because he's going to have a bunch more and he's really going to love them. The last few essays felt more like "Scissors" in how they were more stories rather than essays that looked at the world and turned it upside-down. I liked the essays more. Basically, if you're a David Sedaris fan, you'll enjoy this book!FAVORITE QUOTES: I was in awe of time's elasticity. Sometimes it compresses. Sometimes it stretches. An yet it always does one when you need the other. // I understood, I need to write. Live her, in my words and my head. i need to go inside, that's all. No big, complicated, difficult thing. I just need to go in reverse. And not worry about what to write about, but just write. Or, if I'm going to worry about what to write, then do this worrying on paper, so at least I'm writing and will have a record of the anxiety. // When Shaun asked me what I was going to do with my life, what my "plans" were, I always tried to give as vague an answer as possible. Because I had no idea. And it was humiliating to be asked by somebody who had a very firm idea, and not only that but an enrollment date. // Long ago, America stopped being a "melting pot" and is, rather, a large land mass filled with tiny boxes, into which groups of people sit, labeled and ready for processing.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Another collection of short essays by Mr. Burroughs about his own personal quirkiness and the relative normality of his life and the world around him.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This book is a collection of essays/short stories/memoirs surrounding the early childhood, of the author. Reviews had this book as being hilarious especially when read on audio by the author. This is the version that I checked out of the library. It missed with me. The stories are told in reverse chronological order which is a little strange - going from successful relationships to a loner; non-smoking Alcoholic in AA to a smoking drinker; gay relationship to young man looking at girls; The tales included telling of when he was a child, his reluctance to visit one grandmother (evil) after visiting the other (good) (If one of my grandmothers had a tooth fairy that gave $50 per tooth, I 'd think that the other was evil too.), spending over $600 a month on Nicorette gum when he quit smoking, and a crush on a female doctor as a child. A few of the short stories are extremely entertaining but the entire book wasn't worth its reviews that were raves. (IMHO)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Augusten Burroughs is hilarious. I never thought reading autobiographical books could be fun until I read this book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I kept laughing so much I had to stop reading and tell my husband what was going on!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love Augusten Burroughs. He is mean and jaded and he knows exactly who he is. He doesn't think he a nice, sweet person; he knows exactly how he views the world. He is funny and caustic, but has a love for dogs. Love him, love this book. My favorite so far besides Running with Scissors.The essays in this book tackle:Junior Mints AdvertisingCowcow the godVacationing with creepy dollsSmokingand more....
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uneven but still some very funny stories.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Possible side effects offers "more of the same". Newcomers to the fictional world of Augusten Burroughs will be dazzled by his peculiar supposedly autobiographical hodge-podge of gays, lesbians, midgets and other weirdos all mixed up. Readers familiar may find Possible side effects lacking the sharp, snidiness of some of the other, better collections of short stories.Hyperbole only works as long as it is extraordinary. However, the whole universe of Augusten Burroughs is supposedly out-of-the-ordinary, and therefore the effect wears off. The collection shows signs of fatigue, and particularly the stories that make up the body of the book are largely rather weakIf you have never read anything by Augusten Burroughs , this might be a good book to start, as the stories are funny, but not as over the top as some of his other work.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Augusten Burroughs first book, Running With Scissors, is one of my favorite books. He writes about his disturbing childhood and what he overcame to be a sucessful adult. The book, Possible Side Effects was more of a memoir of recent essays and stories that have happend to him. I found them to be funny and intreging but the book didn't have a story line to follow. It was easy to understand and read since each story was around 7 pages long. I would recommend this book to someone who wants and easy and quick read because you can set it down easily and pick it back up without forgetting where you left off.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Portions will make you laugh out loud but the payoffs are to few and to far apart. The lack of an index or table of contents is annoying (particularly when trying to craft a coherent review) but the two stories that stick the most in the mind are the first and the last. Whether this reflects wise choices on the part of the author and editor or merely the uneven composition of the book is left to you to judge.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Augusten Burroughs is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This is the third book I've read by this man and I must say, I howled with laughter at this collection of antecdotes. Actually, I can't say "read" because I am listening to them via audio format, read by Augusten himself, so I don't know if it's the text itself, or the superb spoken delivery of it that has me roaring and wiping my eyes. I can't wait for more! If you need a laugh, choose "Possible Side Effects" by Augusten Burroughs!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5i will read anything this man writes!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a collection of short stories, and it was pretty good. Augusten lived a pretty messed up childhood, and it sounds like it developed into some pretty hard core addiction problems.
He writes about his life, and I laugh, until I realize this is supposed to be true? Then I feel incredibly sorry for him....but at least he has found a way to make a living from his experiences....
My personal favorite of his stories was the one where he convinced his friend, a self-acclaimed Lipstick Lesbian, to take out a personal add that cost $3,000...and that's just the beginning of the troubles.
Entertaining book, for sure. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5laugh out loud funny
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although these stories are not chronological, the book overall is like a sequal to "Magical Thinking". I remember that "Magical" was a bit hopeless in tone, while "Possible" is much more hopeful. Each story ends with a higher note -- although sometimes saccarine, I prefer it to complete despair. Overall the book is more hopefull, as well. It's fun to read more about Augusten's unusual upbringing, and get some glimpses into his life now, as a successful author.