Search This Blog

Monday, April 21, 2014

Bookshelf ABC - R

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs has been mentioned in my blog before: here http://lucybgoosey.blogspot.com/2011/03/downside-of-perfect-parenting.html and here http://lucybgoosey.blogspot.com/2008/01/christmas-update.html. I love the way this book starts out, with the description of Augustine as a young boy enraptures by the smell of tobacco in his mother's purse. I'm a smell person. Odors trigger childhood memories for me.

Beyond that, the author tends to go for shock and awe over intrigue and drama. He gives graphic details that would be better left to the imagination. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating memoir of a boy caught up in the pathological crazy of multiple adults. Though our Mamas taught us that the polite thing to do would be to look away, we can help but stare at the mess.


Are you ready with your R contribution? Leave it in the comments, please.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I have two R books and I would be remiss if I didn't mention both. They are both about coming of age boys from two different sides of the word. The first is The Round House by Louise Erdrich, who is a Native America from the Ojibewa tribe and this story takes place in North Dakota on the Ojibewa reservation. The second book is Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron and takes place in Rwanda. The story is about Jean Patric Nkuba a young Tutsi student who wants to be the first from his country to win the Olympics in long distance running, but is caught up in the genocide of his people. These are wonderfully written, about very difficult subjects.

William Kendall said...

The first that comes to mind is Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.

Jo said...

Not totally R but Hunt for RED October came to mind for me.