Augusten Burroughs

In
a January 2005 interview, reflecting on his life with his (now former)
partner, graphic designer Dennis Pilsits, Burroughs said paying tax
should allow same-sex couples full legal entitlements: "That’s what gay
people need to be allowed to do – get married. Not have domestic
partnerships; that’s not acceptable. I don’t believe for a moment [gay
marriage] would destroy the sanctity of marriage. But let’s just say for
a moment that it does. Well, then the sanctity of marriage just has to
be destroyed. It’s just too bad. You can’t have one set of benefits and
only give them to some of the people."

This
is the ninety-seventh post in a series highlighting the best gay and
lesbian authors from the 20th century (with a few before and after that
period) who have recorded in fiction, and nonfiction, the history of gay
people telling what life is, and was,
during an important time of history.

Augusten Xon Burroughs (born October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania) is an American writer known for his New York Times
bestselling memoir Running with Scissors (2002).

Life

Born Christopher Robison in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest of
two sons to Margaret Robison, a poet, and John G. Robison, former head
of the philosophy department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
He is also the younger brother of memoirist John Elder Robison. Though
he was born in Pittsburgh, he was raised in western Massachusetts towns,
including Shutesbury, Amherst and Northampton. His parents divorced on
July 29, 1978, when Burroughs was twelve years old, and was adopted by
his mother's psychiatrist who resided in the Northampton area.

Burroughs dropped out of school after the sixth grade, and obtained a
GED at age 17. He chose his name at age 18, and legally changed it in
Boston. He later enrolled at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke,
Massachusetts as a pre-med student, however dropped out before the end
of the first semester. He decided to settle in New York City, and held a
high-paying career in a Manhattan-based advertising company. In 1996,
he sought treatment for alcoholism at a rehabilitation center in
Minnesota before returning to Manhattan.

His books are published by St. Martin's Press and Picador. Some of his
childhood experiences were chronicled in Running with Scissors (2002),
which was later developed into a film.


In addition to Scissors, Burroughs penned a second memoir, Dry (2003),
about his experience during and after treatment for alcoholism. It was
followed by two collections of memoir essays, Magical Thinking (2003)
and Possible Side Effects (2006). His first novel, Sellevision (2000),
is currently in production as a feature film

Burroughs' writing focuses on subjects such as advertising,
psychiatrists, religious families, and home shopping networks. It has
appeared in publications such as The New York Times, House & Garden,
BlackBook Magazine, New York, The Times, Bark, Attitude, and Out.
Burroughs writes a monthly column for Details. Early in his career, he
was a regular commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition.

Burroughs has been profiled in People, The Guardian, and Entertainment
Weekly, where he ranked 15 on the 2005 list of "The 25 Funniest People
in America" and was named to the magazine's "It List".

In 2005, Universal Studios and Red Wagon Productions bought the rights
to a film based on a then-unreleased memoir about Burroughs'
relationship with his father. The book, called A Wolf at the Table, was
released on April 29, 2008.

In October 2009, Burroughs released You Better Not Cry: Stories for
Christmas, a book of short Christmas stories based on true events that
occurred during his childhood.

Film and television

Running With Scissors was made into a film in 2006. It was directed by
Ryan Murphy, produced by Brad Pitt, and starred Joseph Cross, Annette
Benning, Alec Baldwin and Evan Rachel Wood. Benning was nominated for a
Golden Globe for her role.

Burroughs is currently writing the screenplay for two upcoming
television series: he is working on a Showtime series based on his
memoir, Dry, and writing a drama series for CBS titled The Nature of
Fire, which follows a group of male firefighters.

Bibliography
2000 – Sellevision (ISBN 0-312-26772-X) (fiction)
2002 – Running with Scissors (ISBN 0-312-28370-9)
2003 – Dry (ISBN 0-312-42379-9)
2004 – Magical Thinking (ISBN 0-312-31594-5)
2006 – Possible Side Effects (ISBN 0-312-31596-1)
2008 – A Wolf at the Table (ISBN 0-312-42827-8)
2009 – You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas (ISBN 0-312-34191-1)