A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by: Augusten Burroughs
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Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: When I started reading A Wolf at the Table, I thought I knew what to expect. Augusten Burroughs captures intense experience with an inexplicably cool remove, imparting a stillness and purity to emotions that would likely run amok in anyone else's hands. I love this quality of his writing, and it's present in full force in this memoir of a childhood spent in thrall to a predatory and deeply unpredictable father. What I wasn't prepared for was the suspense--the dread-filled, nearly sonorous waiting for the worst to happen. An artful sort of bait-and-switch happens in the telling: Burroughs brings you to the brink of a terrible catharsis more than once, but the break in tension never comes. It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows. --Anne Bartholomew
Product Description:
“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we’d ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasn’t altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?”
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl.Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten’s childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn’t exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested…
And then the “games” began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It’s a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: When I started reading A Wolf at the Table, I thought I knew what to expect. Augusten Burroughs captures intense experience with an inexplicably cool remove, imparting a stillness and purity to emotions that would likely run amok in anyone else's hands. I love this quality of his writing, and it's present in full force in this memoir of a childhood spent in thrall to a predatory and deeply unpredictable father. What I wasn't prepared for was the suspense--the dread-filled, nearly sonorous waiting for the worst to happen. An artful sort of bait-and-switch happens in the telling: Burroughs brings you to the brink of a terrible catharsis more than once, but the break in tension never comes. It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows. --Anne Bartholomew
Product Description:
“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we’d ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasn’t altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?”
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl.Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten’s childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn’t exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested…
And then the “games” began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It’s a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- sadly disapointing
this book is just typical of a dysfunctioal family. i found it no where near as mesmerizing as some of the others .. it seemed pathetically self indulgent. he still seeks approval in a sad sick way in most of his writings. i think he needs to get over it. he made his life what it is and i suffered the same abuses but did not drown myself in pity which this book does.glad it is over. no impressed get over it !
Rating: - Not as good as I expected, but still a good read.
I read this book after receiving it as a recommendation similar to other books I've read. I really only got about halfway though the book when I decided to stop. The book was a fairly decent book and held my interest a lot longer than most books. It's not a bad read; it just wasn't as 'exciting' as I it was going to be based off other reviews.
It was, for the most part, easy to read and follow along. I actually seemed to read through it faster than most books. Other people have mentioned ... Read More
Rating: 
- Modern day moralist
Augusten Burroughs relates the story of his life, living with a controlling, narcissistic alcoholic father who goes out of his way to brutalize and dehumanize his family.In the naivete of childhood, Augusten continues to seek out his father's favor, maintaining and idealized view of his father until the breaking point if finally reached.
This story could easily have become overdone and maudlin , even self serving or detached but the author avoids all of those possibilities and delivers a straight ... Read More
Rating: - A Survivor's Story
From the author of Running with Scissors: A Memoir and Dry: A Memoir, we are now gifted with another piece of the puzzle.
Oftentimes, a tragic childhood is recounted once, but this author has granted us more than one glimpse, choosing instead to offer pieces of the full picture in each book.I believe that the whole plate, served up all at once, would create such a horrific reaction from readers that we couldn't bear it.
This tale begins with the author's memories, from a very early ... Read More
Rating: 
- I struggled to page 7...
Then I gave up on page 30.
Can I have my money back?What happened Augusten?This books was a let down.
Burroughs, like Sedaris, seems to have run out of steam.Perhaps he should revert his efforts back to fiction once more?
- sadly disapointingthis book is just typical of a dysfunctioal family. i found it no where near as mesmerizing as some of the others .. it seemed pathetically self indulgent. he still seeks approval in a sad sick way in most of his writings. i think he needs to get over it. he made his life what it is and i suffered the same abuses but did not drown myself in pity which this book does.glad it is over. no impressed get over it !
- Not as good as I expected, but still a good read.I read this book after receiving it as a recommendation similar to other books I've read. I really only got about halfway though the book when I decided to stop. The book was a fairly decent book and held my interest a lot longer than most books. It's not a bad read; it just wasn't as 'exciting' as I it was going to be based off other reviews.
It was, for the most part, easy to read and follow along. I actually seemed to read through it faster than most books. Other people have mentioned ... Read More
- Modern day moralistAugusten Burroughs relates the story of his life, living with a controlling, narcissistic alcoholic father who goes out of his way to brutalize and dehumanize his family.In the naivete of childhood, Augusten continues to seek out his father's favor, maintaining and idealized view of his father until the breaking point if finally reached.
This story could easily have become overdone and maudlin , even self serving or detached but the author avoids all of those possibilities and delivers a straight ... Read More
- A Survivor's StoryFrom the author of Running with Scissors: A Memoir and Dry: A Memoir, we are now gifted with another piece of the puzzle.
Oftentimes, a tragic childhood is recounted once, but this author has granted us more than one glimpse, choosing instead to offer pieces of the full picture in each book.I believe that the whole plate, served up all at once, would create such a horrific reaction from readers that we couldn't bear it.
This tale begins with the author's memories, from a very early ... Read More
- I struggled to page 7...Then I gave up on page 30.
Can I have my money back?What happened Augusten?This books was a let down.
Burroughs, like Sedaris, seems to have run out of steam.Perhaps he should revert his efforts back to fiction once more?
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