Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: When I started reading A Wolf at the Table, I thought I knew what to expect. Augusten Burroughs captures intense experience with an inexplicably cool remove, imparting a stillness and purity to emotions that would likely run amok in anyone else's hands. I love this quality of his writing, and it's present in full force in this memoir of a childhood spent in thrall to a predatory and deeply unpredictable father. What I wasn't prepared for was the suspense--the dread-filled, nearly sonorous waiting for the worst to happen. An artful sort of bait-and-switch happens in the telling: Burroughs brings you to the brink of a terrible catharsis more than once, but the break in tension never comes. It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows. --Anne Bartholomew
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
When unhelpful is also wrongful
Customer Rating:
I know I should post this as a comment to some of the reviewers, but I do think a bit of reflection on what constitutes a valid critic and what does not might help all of us Amazon buyers/readers.
I find it very disturbing and annoying to read so many negative critics on grounds such as: "this book lacks the wit of the others, by the same author", "he is repeating himself", "I was expecting some laughs" etc.
What this comments tell me is that there is a lot of people out there, that came to regard the literary creation the same way they regard their fast food consumption: as a producer-consumer relationship to be appraised by standards such as uniformity (the same burger, wherever you go), predictability (the same shopping/reading experience) etc. The author is, thus, transformed into a brand.
Sure, there are many authors, specially in America, that gladly adhere to this "contract" with their audiences, but this is certainly NOT something we should regard as a desirable norm for all authors. Revisiting the same material/subject many times; producing works of radically different tones/moods; amplifying the significance of personal experiences -- none of these are valid grounds for appraising, either positively or negatively, a literary work.
What would we say of Shakespeare's work if we adopted such criteria as measures of quality? Should he write only histories, and not comedies or tragedies? Should we condemn "King Lear", on the grounds that it is "too tragic" and lacks the wit of "The Merry Wives of Windsor"? Or that Lear was actually "exaggerating things"?
This is even more valid in the case of autobiographical works, such as Burroughs' book. It is entirely the author's prerogative to employ the tone that he feels inclined to, as well as the subject matter that he deems necessary to cover.
I am certainly not suggesting that Burroughs' work is as good as or as important as Shakespeare's. I'm not even saying it is good. But I do believe we would read much better, useful and intelligent reviews if we all used sensible criteria for our comments.
Good read
Customer Rating:
If you love his books you will like this one as well. I did not find it as gripping as Running with Scissors, but it was definitely worth reading if you want a rather raw account of a boys life with an abusive father and a crazy mother.
wolf took a bite out of me
Customer Rating:
A Wolf At The Table: A Memoir Of My Father took a real bite out of me. I knew something of Augusten Burroughs' background so I was somewhat prepared but not totally ready for what was in the book. If you have a heart, it will be difficult to read all that Augusten and his mother experience. If you've been through anything like what they've been through, you'll certainly relate. Augusten's writing is superb, straight-forward, and will make you feel the absence.
The Bad Father
Customer Rating:
I read this book in two days because it was so harrowing and riveting. The author grew up in a household with a depressed mother and a cold, uncaring father who showed signs of being a psychopath. It's amazing that Burroughs survived with all of his intellgence and sanity intact. There may be some people who think that households like this do not exist, but they will have to think again. The more people that survive child abuse and speak out about it, the better. Burroughs has done a great service and has created beautiful, horrifying art at the same time. Highly recommended.
Ok, I admit. I'm a huge fan.
Customer Rating:
I've read all his books and am fascinated by Augusten Burroughs' writing. This addition to his series of memoirs gives great insight into his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father.
Select button not working? 
