Running With Scissors

This memoir is about the life of Augusten Burroughs and describes how his childhood years transpired. I'm only about a quarter of the way into the book, but so far the part that I found to be the most salient was the caricature Augusten paints of the Finch home. Augusten viewed doctors as individuals possessing a great deal of cachet. He therefore always pictured that their houses would be ethereal and vogue. Instead, Augusten was forced to abrogate this imprimatur and accept that doctors too can live in squalor. The funny thing is that after a while he came to find their home alluring all the same.

I suppose the crux of the story so far is supposed to be that Augusten is gay, but for some reason the description of the Finch's house elicits more empathy in me. I think this is because I have a family friend who lives in a house similar to the Finch's. It's not like my friend is living under the nadir, she just keeps a much less tidy home than my family. I feel like Augusten whenever I make the sortie over to my friend's house. I don't want to sit on their couch because it might be sticky and I'm certain that all of their silverware is loaded with spots. If I were Augusten I'd be more concerned with the roaches than I would be with my sexual preferences.