Stars: ****
St. Martin’s Press (2009)
224 pages
Summary: You’ve eaten too much candy at Christmas…but have you ever eaten the face off a six-foot-stuffed Santa? You’ve seen gingerbread houses…but have you ever made your own gingerbread tenement? You’ve woken up with a hangover…but have you ever woken up next to Kris Kringle himself? Augusten Burroughs has, and in this caustically funny, nostalgic, poignant, and moving collection he recounts Christmases past and present—as only he could. With gimleteyed wit and illuminated prose, Augusten shows how the holidays bring out the worst in us and sometimes, just sometimes, the very, very best. – from GoodReads
Did you read the summary? I have no idea what gimleteyed is but the stories were pretty funny but more in a “I can’t believe that happened” sort of way. I received this book almost a year ago for review but due to the crappy mail system, it came AFTER Christmas, like in February and I didn’t feel like reading a Christmas book that much after Christmas.
Augusten Burroughs is the author of the popular Running With Scissors (along with other books.) This however is the first book by him I’ve read. Augusten had a very interesting life and certainly seems to be cursed during the holidays and I’m not even sure I believe in curses.
I’m not usually a lover of short stories but for some reason I don’t seem to mind them at Christmastime. However I have to warn that not everyone will enjoy this book. The stories are dark, about alcoholism, AIDS and death. Also although it doesn’t matter to me, the author is gay so his relationships are with other men. I know this bothers some people.
PS – I looked up gimlet-eyed… it means sharp sighted according to Merriam-Webster.
Links of Interest: NONE YET
Other Reviews: Reviews by Lola, The Girl from the Ghetto,
Buy You Better Not Cry
About Kathleen
