Augusten Burroughs at Books Inc in the Castro May 12, 2008

New York BestSelling author Augusten Burroughs, will be reading selections from his long awaited new novel, "A WOLF AT THE TABLE: A Memoir of my father" at Books Inc in Castro

In his first full-length memoir since Dry, Augusten Burroughs, now takes readers into the most unexpected recesses of his psyche to introduce an imposing shadow that has haunted him for most of his life in A WOLF AT THE TABLE: A Memoir of My Father. Burroughs opens old wounds, exposing the rot and chaos of psychological abuse, cruelty, and abandonment he experienced at the hands of his distant, alcoholic father.

In some of his earliest memories, Augusten recalls excitedly anticipating his father’s arrival home from work as a philosophy professor in Massachusetts. The young Augusten would create art projects to impress his father and even once dressed like a dog to hopefully garner the same affection the family pet received from the man he admits he loved, at least in the beginning. For his efforts, Augusten was often met at the door with utter disregard, disgust, and sometimes even chilling rebukes.

“I was losing against the Arms,” Burroughs writes sadly of his inability to get near enough to his father for a hug. In one moment of desperation, Augusten snuck his father’s clothes from drawers and closets and stuffed them with towels and his own bed sheet to create a headless, footless, scarecrow-like father surrogate. “Tenderly, being mindful not to dislodge the torso from the legs and spoil the illusion, I crawled into bed beside the body, turned on my side and curled against it….It was an acceptable substitute.”

Balancing life with a doting, yet unstable mother, an unpredictable older brother, and his volatile father, Augusten agonized over the menacing thought that he may one day grow up to be just like his dad. Amidst the raucous fights between his parents, the suspicious deaths of his childhood pets, and his own angst and despair, Augusten fantasized about killing his father.

A WOLF AT THE TABLE is the heart-rending memoir of one man’s struggle to rationalize his turbulent childhood. It is an untapped chapter of Augusten Burroughs’ life, through which he, as a child, fumbles through the space between love and hate, adoration and abhorrence, and life and death. This is Burroughs at his most uncompromising and most vulnerable.

Book goes on sale April 29th. We will be giving out tickets that will admit one person per ticket for each book that is sold here AT THIS BOOKS INC. LOCATION ONLY (Market St.). The tickets are numbered, so there will be no need to line up early. People with ticket will receive preferred seating.

About Augusten Burroughs:
Augusten Burroughs is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Possible Side Effects, Magical Thinking, Dry, Running With Scissors, and Sellevision. He lives in New York City and Western Massachusetts.

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Books Inc. is a locally owned and operated independent bookseller with 10 locations in California. Books Inc.’s origin dates back to the Gold Rush Days of 1851 when Anton Roman struck it rich in Shasta City, California and set himself up in business selling books. That small bookstore was moved, bought, sold, burned, rebuilt, renamed and became Books Inc., as we know it today, in 1946.

Today, with 10 Stores and 200 employees, Books Inc. serves as a shining example that independent bookselling can survive and prosper, even if we must dance among the elephants.

This Event is Free at Books Inc. 2275 Market St. San Francisco 94114
For Questions: 415.864.6777 or on the web at www.booksinc.net and
www.myspace.com/booksinccastro

Official Website: http://booksinc.net/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=374087