Books A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Disappointing and self-pitying saga of Augusten's relationship with his father.
Augusten's earlier book "Dry" was witty, also compelling and touching in parts. I liked it much more than "Running with Scissors" as that one seemed to be told from a teen's view point.

A Wolf at the Table once again comes from a kid's perception of his father. This book was boring for me as it's told from a child's view point, with no real adult insight to temper the fantastic situations he describes. It's clear that Augusten's dad would not win any prizes for the "Dad of the year" but there have been other far more abusive father-son relationships than what the author faced. Some children live in constant fear of parental torture and even sexual abuse as reported so often in the news.

At some point this book becomes a slightly self pitying narrative, it seems Augusten is blaming most of his problems as an adult on this failed relationship with his father. Some of the terrifying scenes from the book are dreams Augusten had rather then actual events. It was just his active imagination at play as a child.

His father comes across as a sad, depressed and angry alcoholic from the book, tormented by his own shortcomings. The dark side exists in all of us really, his father seemed to give it more free rein due to his negativity. However, he probably did not mean to torture his kid, rather just shock Augusten out of his "sissyness" since he seemed so susceptible to his father's suggestions.

It would have been a much more meaningful book if Augusten had peppered it with his adult insight into the mind of father. Instead, the book ends up as a self-pitying narrative. We never really get to learn about what really drove his father's dislike of his own son. This book was also devoid of the biting humor of some of the author's other books and it was hard to keep reading on after the first few pages. I somehow plowed through it but it did not leave me with any insight at the end.

This book just made me want to say "Grow up, Augusten. Life can be harsh and not everyone gets the best childhood years." Give us a more insightful and richer book next time.

It seems like the author is running out of good material for memoirs, after a slew of books outlining his life thus far. Maybe, he should now switch to fiction.

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Rating: - Not very compelling!
I read this book and was very disappointed. I thought "oh, finally someone that had it harder than my family." Boy was I wrong. You don't even have a clue as to what abuse is in this book. Yeah, the father was a dark and mysterious often detached man, but until you walk in the shoes of someone that is truly abused, write something else.

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Rating: - Unreadable
I've read all of his books and this one is boring. I couldn't get past the first few chapters. There is little to no humor in it and it was ponderous and self pitying. His father didn't pay enough attention to him(whose father did?)and blah, blah, blah...

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Rating: - Fabulous follow-up
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs is one of my favorite books and this was a good follow-up. He doesn't talk much about his father in the previous book so it was nice to get more insight. I thought it was a little dry at first but got really good as it went on. The first line in the book tied me in though!