Magical Thinking: A Review

Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs

Being that this is my fourth Augusten Burroughs book, there's never any doubt that I will be completely entertained, from start to end. And "Magical Thinking" is no exception. Through a series of short essays, Augusten portrays his typical witty self through his standoffish humor and matter-of-fact account of personal events. He writes for himself and cares not who he offends, telling his story the way he sees things, no matter how disturbing or perplexing. His style is crude, yet heartfelt, and the more I learn of him through his memoirs the more I want to meet him in real life; see if he's really the complex, yet lovable personality, I've come to know.

This book, more so than previous ones, actually propelled me to laugh out loud on multiple occasions, sometimes causing my eyes to well up. Not just a soft chuckle, but a hearty I-can't-believe-he-just-said-that type howl. The truth can be painfully funny and Augusten does a fantastic job of bringing light to the more awkward moments in his peculiar life.

The opening line does a fantastic job of setting up my expectations from the get-go: "When I was seven, I was plucked from my uneventful life deep in the darkest Massachusetts and dropped into a Tang Instant Breakfast commercial. It was exactly like being abducted by aliens except without the anal probe. I was a lonely kid with entirely imaginary friends. I played with trees." Captivating and hilarious: I will read on.

He has an acute skill for choosing and arranging words in such a precise way that an idea or feeling I once thought indescribable is now clear and exact. He elevates vague subtleties into meaningful and defining ideas, such that I ponder how one can so perfectly express, put to paper, how he feels. How I feel.

If you ever felt like you were a crazy person, "Magical Thinking" will reassure you that we're all truly screwed up, and if you can turn that into bestseller novel you've got a talent, a remarkable one yet.

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