Courtney and Laura recommended this book to me and when I was at Courtney's house she lent me her copy. They are usually both very reliable book recommenders but I can't say I agree with this one. I found this book so disturbing I nearly stopped reading it - more than once.
The book is a memoir about Burroughs' childhood. His mother is mentally ill and his father is absent, so, oddly, he goes to live with his mother's exceptionally eccentric psychologist. This doctor is reasonably disturbed himself and lives with his wife and several children.
The doctor's house is always a mess, there is no stability with regards to school, food, or even the house's physical nature itself. The therapist encourages Burroughs and the other children to participate in really unhealthy behaviors - for example, at one point Burroughs wants to quit school so the doctor coaches him as to how to fake a suicide attempt. And Burroughs is thrust into a sexual relationship with another member of the family. At the time, he is a young adolescent, and the incidents are graphically depicted in the book.
I don't blame Burroughs for writing the book - he is an excellent memoirist: unflinchingly honest and good at picking particular anecdotes to characterize large portions of his life. However, I do think his editor and publisher should have protected him more. Many reviews of the book describe it as 'funny' and 'hilarious' and I didn't think that was accurate at all. There were a few parts of the book where I chuckled out loud, but wished I hadn't. While I appreciate that Burroughs may have found humor in his past and uses that to cope, the story he tells is not one of his recovery, it is one of a young boy who is in a terrible situation. I don't see humor having a place there and I felt very sad for him. Reading this book I had the same feeling I had when I saw Brokeback Mountain - people in the theater were laughing and somehow only I knew it was not a comedy.
I can't recommend this book, despite how well I thought it was written, because I think it was disturbingly exploitative. I would, however, read something else by Burroughs in the future.
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1 comment:
Oh no! I'm going to have to come up with a new recommendation now to redeem myself. I see your points, clearly. I do think he has a way of telling a twisted tale with humor, but much of the book is uncomfortable.
And, who was laughing at Brokeback Mountain?
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