Augusten Burroughs on James Frey’s Fabrications

Augusten Burroughs on James Frey’s Fabrications
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Melbourne Writers Festival
Improbable, hilarious and true, Running with Scissors was a confessional stand-up routine enlivened by painful slaps of candor.When it appeared in 2002, it made its author, Augusten Burroughs, a literary celebrity, a status he has built upon with his subsequent works: a memoir about his addictions Dry, two collections of essays Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects and a novel Sellivision. Each stings with his characteristic caustic humour.In his latest, A Wolf at the Table, however, the tone darkens. Contemplating his fearful yearning for the love of his father the laughs dried up.In this major Writers Festival address, Burroughs explains to Jennifer Byrne why he abandoned the deflecting techniques of humour and opened himself up to the emotional hits - Melbourne Writers Festival