Possible Side Effects | 
 enlarge | Author: Augusten Burroughs
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  101 reviews
Sales Rank: 212021
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 2.1
ISBN: 0312315961
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312315962
ASIN: 0312315961
Publication Date: May 2, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the million-copy bestselling author of Running with Scissors comes Augusten Burroughs’s most provocative collection yet.
This book is approved for consumption by those seeking pleasure, escape, amusement, enlightenment, or general distraction. This book is not approved to treat disorders such as eBay addiction or incessant blind dating. In studies, some people reported inappropriate, convulsive laughter, a tingling sensation in the limbs, and sudden gasping. Fewer than 1 percent reported narcolepsy. Doll collectors may experience special sensitivity, as may discourteous drivers, candy-company brand managers, and nicotine-gum users. This book has been shown to be especially helpful to those with parents, grandparents, life partners, and incontinent dogs. People with dry, cracked skin have responded well to this book, as have people with certain heart conditions. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this book, until you know what effects it may have on you. This text is contraindicated in those suffering from certain psychiatric disorders, including---but not limited to---readers afflicted with anhedonia, which is the inability to experience pleasure. Ask your doctor about Possible Side Effects.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 96 more reviews...
 He's a trashy memoirist, he said it himself. December 6, 2008
Short stories or vignettes of this nature can be read in twenty minutes, out of order, one by one, all at once, etc. But do they have to wrap up with a concise moral lesson for the memoirist? Burroughs certainly writes with humor about his life; both the darker moments as well as the lighter. However at times the conclusions reached seem overly concise. Contrived, if you will. Did he really walk away from a series of bad dates thinking how glad he was not to get up in others' spinning? Or did he impose that emotion on the memory to create the illusion of progress. Each story ends with a neat little summation that feels like an easy out. A writer as self-deprecating and flawed as Augusten Burroughs should know that his readership craves his cynicism and selfish behavior. That and his ability to wittily describe any situation make him loveable. Not the moral lessons at the end of each chapter. Obviously the lessons were learned; have a little faith that the reader does not need it spelled out.
Very good- October 4, 2008
Nice read--a bunch of short stories--so you can read one, not pick the book up for a couple of days, read another...however, relative to other augusten books (esp. running with scissors, dry, magical thinking), it is not QUITE as good.
My first Burroughs September 26, 2008
...and though it left me less-than-amazed (as a friend promised I would be), I am mostly definitely intrigued when it comes to this author now. I can see myself reading some of his other works, even if this collection of memoir/essays are simply "okay".
All right. "Possible Side Effects" is a pretty good book. It's light and serious simultaneously, at times downright hilarious, and sometimes kind of boring. Fact of the matter is, it's pretty disorganized. Some of the story/essays made me grin, others grimace, and some were just kind of pathetic. At times, Burroughs managed to create the perfect mood - light, but important. Other times, stories were kind of scattered and pointless. Understandable in a memoir, but still somewhat annoying.
This seems like the kind of book you could really like if you just like reading other people tell you semi-funny, semi-sad stories about their lives. And while this memoir is humorously written, it's at times a bit... boring. And while lives are great and all, too much is just too much. Maybe I shouldn't have started here?
It's a pretty good book on the whole, but it's still not all that much. I'm sure I won't detract true Burroughs fans nor those curious about this author as I was, but keep in mind that this is not a stunning memoir, simply an okay one.
 Possible Side Effects September 9, 2008
Excellent book! Loved everything that I have read by Augusten so far. Not as great as Running with Scissors, but still a really good book that held my interest the whole time.
I LOVED this book! August 29, 2008
Possible Side Effects
Augusten Burroughs has the ability to to tell experiences at all stages of his young life and turn some not so great memories into side-splitting laughter. Who doesn't embellish (a little) once you have grabbed the attention of your audience? Well that is what he does, just enough to make the story humorous. If you need a little laughter READ THIS BOOK. After my eyes would dry, I had to go back and read that paragraph or page again - only to have the same result. These are all short stories so you don't feel (too) frustrated having to put the book down. My favorites were "The Wisdom Tooth", "Getting To No You", and "Moving Violations" . I loved this book and will soon be reading his others. I am glad my first read was "A Wolf at the Table" as it explained to me more about his quirky family - immediate and extended - although "..Wolf.." does not have the humor this book does. Not a book for youngsters - maybe not teens either. A few stories are quite liberal with language, but it is not offensive in the sense that it works with that particular experience. Would I recommend this book to my twentysomething son or daughter? YES.
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