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Monday, January 24, 2005 :::

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

Rating:

Why I read it: I'll read anything he writes.

What I think about it: These short unrelated "essays" are not as strong or resonant as his previously published memoirs, which seemed more cohesive as complete stories, but they are funny nonetheless. It's the little things about Augusten Burrough's stories that make them worthwhile, like his casual wit and his absurd humor, but honestly, this is the type of material that can be found on countless weblogs and in every David Sedaris book ever published. He basically just journals about strange or interesting things that have happened to him. Granted, he's had an interesting life. He's experienced more before the age of 30 than twenty average people would experience throughout the course of their entire lifetimes. And it also has a refreshingly confessional feel to it, as if he's willing to let it all hang out, and authetically so. He never tries to pander or shock just for the sake of getting a reaction.

It's definitely worth reading, but I wanted more. What I want is a fiction novel, something created from scratch that doesn't resort to focusing on himself, which is something he hasn't done in almost a decade. He's got a major book deal now, though, so hopefully something original will come out of that. Anyway, it's good, funny, slightly-shocking light reading.

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::: posted by dan at 9:33 PM :: #