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| image from Burroughs' Australian publication of | "You Better Not Cry" |
Dear Bookclub,
Being an 'unusual' year - let's just say - my taste for Christmas literature seeks escapism of the uplifting sort. Unable to finish Augusten Burroughs' "You Better Not Cry", I sheepishly started our holiday bookclub meeting with a dutiful zoom.
After very cheering hellos and catching up, Ginger started our discussion with a surprisingly effusive description of her experience reading the book. My heart melted like a tightly held chocolate coin. She laughed. Enjoyed. And wowed us with her amazement about the witches. Wait - what? Turns out her kindle version of "You Better Not Cry" included a chapter of another of his books, "Toil & Trouble". She's convinced me to revisit Burroughs' work.
Young Augusten's Jesus-Santa confusion concept cracked us up; can't resist:
Val, unable to attend and like myself, was also not a fan. Perhaps this image of Augusten at work will also melt her heart:
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| Augusten designed his apartment around his bed (NY Times) |
I doubt it. Everyone else did enjoy it though, appreciating Burroughs' empathy, path to sobriety and reality checks.
The New York Times article, referenced above is dated but interesting. A more updated account in a 2016 NY Times article continues to melt my heart, as Augusten lives in John Cheevers' old home in CT and his working environment looks much improved with an Italian Greyhound looking on:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/realestate/a-farmhouse-for-the-author-augusten-burroughs.html
Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"War" Margaret MacMillan
"The Vanishing Half" Bret Bennet
"Hidden Valley Road" Robert Kolker *chosen
Up next:
Joyful reading!
LK
PS:
