Running with Scissors (p.139-225)

Summary

It seems like every time I finish writing a summary I feel like Augusten has done it all, then as soon as I turn a page a read something else that makes my jaw drop. Augusten and Natalie, Dr. Finches daughter and Augusten's accomplice, gets themselves projects everyday. Just one look at the ceiling and they started renovating the whole kitchen ceiling and because the house was so old the ceiling seemed to fall down on it's own. As soon as they finish they go back to their routine, sitting down, smoking, and laughing at and with each other. Augusten's love life has been of balance lately. He's starting to question how he feels about Niel, and he starts to question Niels motives with the relationship, especially when it comes to their sexual relationship. Even though Niel tells him everyday how he feels about him and that he would die if they ever separated, Augusten rolls his eyes and responds Niel with a simple "I know" or an "Thank you". To him, it has all become so cliche. To top it all off the Finch house, which has now became a full time home for him, has gotten crazier. The doctor now relies on what comes out of his rectum to find out what his financial status is going to be like. Augusten's mother, Deirdre, has a new girlfriend who was temporarily occupying his old room before she made her way into the master bedroom. When it finally seems like his life would became the same routine over and over again, Augusten goes and fills out nine applications for himself in the hopes that one of those nine jobs would give him the chance he needed to finally get his life on track.

Quote

"I did want Hamburger Helper. And if I knew where to find a mother that could make it, I would have been there in a heartbeat" (Burroughs 206).

Reaction

Augusten has never really had a mother figure in his life, or at least he didn't have the perfect T.V mom you would see in movies and shows. With the quote above I feel like his was trying to be funny but in a way he was not really asking for a plate of Hamburger Helper. When people think about Hamburger Helper they think a nice warm family sitting all together at a table eating a hot meal together sharing stories about how their days went. He never really experienced that and I feel like that's a very essential part in a child's life when their growing up. What he was asking for was a mother who will be there for him, someone who he can go to and spill out all his problems and she will hold back on whatever is bothering her because at that moment it's all about her baby, all about her son. That's what he was longing for and that's what his mother couldn't provide him with.