Read “Running With Scissors” or “Dry” or maybe “Magical Thinking”? No? Well, if you haven’t… you should give one a go. My personal favorite is “Dry”. It’s a book of essays that highlight different points in the author’s life while he was trying to get sober. His writing is first rate and he handles hard subjects with a wit and humor only someone who’s actually gone through the stuff could muster.
We went to see him read last night at Powell’s City of Books. It was a great place to see him. If a person is a book lover, Powell’s is the bookstore for you. It’s the largest independent bookstore this side of the Mississippi and I’m told it could be the largest in the country now. It’s the center of the universe for readers and book lovers in Portland and where many authors choose to make their stop in our state. As, getting back to the subject at hand, Augusten Burroughs did.
He’s a very unassuming guy. In fact, as he walked through the crowd the first time, many people didn’t realize it was him. He sort of blended in. As a reader of his own work, and a speaker during the question and answer period, he was great. Funny, warm, engaging, and thorough in his answers to all the questions posed to him. It was worth the trip in, worth the wait, worth the, at times, sweltering heat inside the building. I don’t think they expected the turn out they got. It was standing room only.
After he read, the line formed for the period of signing authors usually do. The folks at Powell’s have this process down. We thought, standing at the back of a very long line, that it would take forever, but… it really didn’t. And, what’s more… we made friends with the people around us, laughing about the line, the wait… talking about self tanning, tanning beds, and what not to wear. It was actually a fun time. Finally, we made it to the front of the line. There he was… this guy whose talent I admire very much, and I could say nothing, other than… thank you for coming to Portland. Or whatever it was I managed to mumble. Karen was much better. She shook his hand, had a little witty reparte with him, he signed our books, and we moved on. I was going to take a picture of him with the camera on my phone, but alas, a woman who worked there kept mysteriously getting into my shot line. So… the picture included here is the stack of books we purchased.
Like I said earlier in this little missive… if you haven’t read him, give him a try. He’s a bit… uh… R rated… at times, just so you all know, but he’s worth it. His life has been incredible. Go on… give him a try.
