Light and Fluffy

A couple of years ago, when our neighbors abandoned their house to move to Arizona for a new job and let another family move in until the bank foreclosed, I knew what to do.  Of course, no one in our neighborhood was happy to have a family with 8 "home schooled" kids, all named after Disney characters, squatting in a vacant house.  But, because I had read Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I knew that the question was not if, but when one of these squatter kids would write his or her memoir.  My legacy was in my hands.  Well, really, probably not.  But I did drop off groceries once and bags of winter clothes and books another time during the night when I don't think anyone was watching.  When the memoir comes out, we'll see if the kids had any idea where those goodies came from.

I read You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs, thinking that it would be light and fluffy.  After all, it has a Santa Claus exposing himself on the front cover - how intense could it be?  But instead, this was a pretty depressing and heavy read.  Burroughs has had some miserable Christmases, even after moving away from his parents.  Running with Scissors was a horrifying recount of Burrough's childhood, but it did have its moments when you couldn't help but laugh.  Not so with You Better Not Cry, which was just sad.

Next Up:  A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

Still Listening to:  Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout