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From Amazon
Amazon Best of the Month, April 2008: When I started reading A Wolf at the Table, I thought I knew what to expect. Augusten Burroughs captures intense experience with an inexplicably cool remove, imparting a stillness and purity to emotions that would likely run amok in anyone else's hands. I love this quality of his writing, and it's present in full force in this memoir of a childhood spent in thrall to a predatory and deeply unpredictable father. What I wasn't prepared for was the suspense--the dread-filled, nearly sonorous waiting for the worst to happen. An artful sort of bait-and-switch happens in the telling: Burroughs brings you to the brink of a terrible catharsis more than once, but the break in tension never comes. It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows. --Anne Bartholomew
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Superb production values transform an ordinary audio into a special experience. Original songs by Patti Smith, Sea Wolf, Ingrid Michaelson and Tegan Quin (from Tegan and Sara), said to be inspired by this work, are a welcome accompaniment to Burroughs's dark relationship with his father. So, too, are the wonderful sound effects, including the cacophony of a Mexican outdoor market and frightening forest noises. The narration itself doesn't live up to the carefully orchestrated acoustical touches nor is it as good as the author's delightful audio renditions of his previous works. Burroughs reads extremely slowly, as if he is savoring every word he has written; however, the average listener will eventually cringe at the plodding pace and emphasis on every syllable. In contrast, the quick rhythms of his own younger self as well as those of his Southern parents are welcome diversions. This audio would best serve adult speakers of English as a second language brushing up on their listening skills. Native speakers will need hefty doses of caffeine to get through it. A St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 24).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great book for my Augusten Burroughs collection!,
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This review is from: A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father (Paperback)
I am a huge fan of all Burroughs' other works, but having heard mixed reviews about A Wolf At the Table, I was a bit reluctant to pick it up. But thankfully a friend gave it to me as a gift, because I loved it! It is another memoir, filling in many of the gaps about Burroughs' early life that he hasn't mentioned in his other stories. This one is more comparable to Running With Scissors in style, and is more on the serious side than the funnier/lighter Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects. While Burroughs' father has little presence in the other stories, A Wolf At the Table brings to light his strange role in Burroughs' life and odd upbringing. Burroughs' other stories display humour towards his childhood and adult life, and a real laugh-it-off attitude; but this story had me really feeling sympathy for what he went through, and realizing the depth and seriousness of the situation.While some parts did seem a little extreme/exaggerated, I think that just represents how much of an effect his father's behaviour had on him. Kudos to Augusten Burroughs for turning his strange childhood into a great story that will entertain and amaze many!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful and Very Real,
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This review is from: A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father (Hardcover)
As a huge fan of Augusten Burrough books, I looked forward to reading A Wolf at the Table. This book is quite different than his others, it is a serious and passionate memoir and his life with his father.The first paragraph was enough to draw me into the book and Burrough's life. From the beginning, the tension is almost unbearable as facts about his father are slowly revealed. The awfulness that was his father and the thoughts of the young Burroughs makes this book memorable and powerful. I found this passage particularly poignant. When Burrough's was five years old, he went to Mexico with his mother. He meets a man and writes: "But he adored me and I knew it. This was a new, euphoric sensation. My first taste of a drug. I wanted more." By the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to read, impossible to put down,
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This review is from: A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father (Hardcover)
It is true that this book may have been therapeutic for the author, I somehow doubt that it has eased his pain. This books captures the essence of mental abuse --- from the subtlest nuances to the most blatant whacks of a psychological hammer.Mr. Burroughs is an incredible writer; he captures our most complex human experiences in the turn of a phrase or an artful metaphor with a clarity second to none I've read in a long while.
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