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grboph's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
I'm not sure how I felt about this book. It was fine to read over breaks from school, and I liked that it was a bunch of different, easily digestible stories that were quirky and occasionally entertaining. However, some of them were kind of boring and none of them were as funny as I had anticipated (or as the book itself advertised). I feel like a lot of the "humor" came from making fun of people, which often crossed over into just being cruel, which I really did not like. I read Dry and Running with Scissors and enjoyed both of those, but this was definitely not on that same level of entertainment or heart. I don't think I'd recommend this book to anyone, to be entirely honest, just because Augusten Burroughs has much better books out there.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Transphobia
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
crufts's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
1.5
The blurb of Magical Thinking declares it as a collection of True stories that give voice to the thoughts we all have but dare not mention.
After reading it, I would rewrite this as: Stories that give voice to the mean thoughts the author has, and assumes that other people have as well.
Mean jokes are the meat, potatoes, butter, side-salad, and every other component of this book. "I have a wide, deep cruel streak," the author comments. You sure do, buddy!
Hardly anyone escapes the scathing crosshairs of Augusten's pen. Disabled people, trans people, Down's Syndrome people, sexual assault victims, housewives, gay men he considers insufficiently attractive - there's nobody he won't insult! Between career-limiting moves such as insulting his readers, the author conveys one point very clearly: he dislikes people - but only as much as he dislikes himself.
You can skip reading this one.
After reading it, I would rewrite this as: Stories that give voice to the mean thoughts the author has, and assumes that other people have as well.
Mean jokes are the meat, potatoes, butter, side-salad, and every other component of this book. "I have a wide, deep cruel streak," the author comments. You sure do, buddy!
Hardly anyone escapes the scathing crosshairs of Augusten's pen. Disabled people, trans people, Down's Syndrome people, sexual assault victims, housewives, gay men he considers insufficiently attractive - there's nobody he won't insult! Between career-limiting moves such as insulting his readers, the author conveys one point very clearly: he dislikes people - but only as much as he dislikes himself.
You can skip reading this one.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail