If you thought your family was crazy, you haven’t met the Finches. And I’m not referring to the iconic, morally upright family led by Atticus, which Harper Lee describes in the literary classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. No, these Finches are “birds” of a different feather altogether and emerge in the recent novel by Augusten Burroughs, entitled Running with Scissors. This novel, which debuted in 2002, and was made into a mediocre movie version last year, generated a huge amount of buzz as a New York Times and national bestseller. Needless to say, I had high hopes for this one.

I picked up Running with Scissors anticipating to be entertained and whisked away from my humdrum--granted stress-free--hometown environment over Winter Break. However, what I found was a novel startling raunchy, unexpectedly sorrowful at times, but inevitably humorous and unlike any “true story” I’d ever read before.

Burroughs recounts his early teenage years in the midst of living with his crazy, poet-wannabe, chain-smoking mother, Deirdre. His mother embodies a larger than life character with comical neurosis that leads her to seek the treatment of therapist Dr. Finch, an outwardly jolly man resembling Santa Claus complete with white hair and rosy cheeks. But appearances can be deceiving, and this rings true for “Ol’ St. Nick” and his unique psychological treatments.

Suddenly the patient-therapist relationship reaches a new level of strangeness, and Deirdre and Dr. Finch become intertwined to the point that regular house calls are the norm. Augusten gets to know the numerous Finch children, which are both biological as well as adopted, in the realm where anything goes. And I mean anything. They eat dog food for kicks and allow six-year-olds to crap under living room pianos. Sound like any family you know? As Deirdre dips deeper into her quirky insanity, Augusten spends most of his time in the equally insane Finch household and eventually becomes Dr. Finch’s newly-adopted son.

Though Augusten experiences domestic confusion on a daily basis, his internal turmoil really forms the crux of the novel. Augusten is gay. At about age 13, Augusten forms a highly sexual relationship with a 33 year-old gay man, and not just any man, but one of Dr. Finch’s other adopted children. Also, the plot twists further to reveal that Augusten’s mother is involved in a lesbian relationship – a relationship which takes precedence over her commitment to her son. These instances in the novel are highly graphic and shocking to read for someone who hasn’t been warned, myself included. The unexpected sexual material was certainly unsettling, but like any good English major, I gritted my teeth and journeyed onward paragraph through paragraph.

I would not dare to give away the ending of this novel for you, but I will say that I closed the book, not blown away, but as an amused reader. Running with Scissors isn’t for everyone.

Warning: If easily offended by sex, feces, bodily functions in general, or a combination of all three, do not, I repeat, do not pick up this book.

Without a doubt, Atticus and Scout would be shocked and appalled at a family as twisted as this Finch clan. But I find that reading a memoir this bizarre helps us identify the insanity in our own lives and learn to laugh at it. It sure wouldn’t hurt us to take life a little less seriously – a point that Running with Scissors conveys from cover to cover.