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Title details for You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs - Available

You Better Not Cry

Stories for Christmas

by Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Burroughs
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

You've eaten too much candy at Christmas...but have you ever eaten the face off a six-footstuffed 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 3, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427207746
      • File size: 170996 KB
      • Duration: 05:56:14

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In the earliest of this series of Christmas reminiscences, Burroughs's performance seems manic and exaggerated, but that's intentional: His reading is appropriate to the loopy childhood terror he was and the dysfunctional family he came from. Even listeners who feel put off should persist. While his life doesn't calm down much (until the last piece, which verges on the trivial), his reading becomes more conventional--but never ordinary. In two key pieces--one about a lover with AIDS, one about his drinking--he matches fine, perceptive writing with heartfelt, note-perfect narrating, achieving an emotional power few audiobooks can match. Burroughs's life can be a wild ride, and his reading can match it, but it's a ride worth taking. W.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 13, 2009
      Burroughs's holiday-themed memoir lacks the consistent emotional intensity of his earlier work, despite a few gems. Arranged roughly chronologically, the vignettes begin with concrete Christmas memories (preparing a detailed, multipart list of desired presents in “Claus and Effect”) and move toward musings on the spirit of the holiday (facing a flooded house with an atheist partner in “Silent Night”). While the childhood stories have Burroughs's trademark dry wit—he once gnawed the face off a life-size Saint Nick made of wax—they aren't particularly memorable. It's when he turns his attention to the less tangible essence of the holiday that the writing comes alive, especially in the final two pieces, “The Best and Only Everything” and “Silent Night.” In the former, Burroughs (Running with Scissors
      ) remembers a long-ago Christmas spent with a former lover dying of AIDS and in the latter, which takes place a decade later, he describes dealing not only with a burst water pipe but also feeling ready to celebrate the season with a tree for the first time since the death of his old boyfriend.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 21, 2009
      With hilarious, heart-warming, and emotional Yule-tide tales, Burroughs revisits his childhood Christmases that seemed to bring out the best and worst in his family and friends. Burroughs reads with such ease and candor he seems more old friend than narrator. With his crisp diction, smooth delivery, and relentlessly funny material, Burroughs could easily have a new career as a performer, but for now, listeners can give thanks for this early Christmas present. A St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Jul. 13).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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