Running With Scissors

1. What kind of impact does it have on your experience reading a book when you are reading a memoir rather than fiction? How important is it to you that the author tells an accurate, factual narrative?

2. Should parents with young children stay together even if they hate each other? What if they feel neutral or ambivalent about each other?

3. Is it healthy to be a bitch? How does anger play a role in your life? What makes you the angriest? How would you like to handle anger differently? Should we be more direct and expressive about our feelings? Does anger destroy a person unless expressed freely?

4. Masturbatorium: underrated or overrated?

5. Who is the craziest person in the book and who is the least crazy person?

6. Are you afraid to try new things? When is it important to try something new?

7. What did you think of Hope’s bible-dips? Do you do anything like this when seeking answers? What are the pros and cons of approaching decisions and looking for answers in this way?

   • How do you feel when people tell you what God thinks and wants from you?

   • What did you think of the toilet bowl readings? Would you find this more or less appealing than the bible-dips?

8. Is school nothing but a holding tank for kids?

9. What did you think of Deirdre’s parenting style? How about Dr. Finch’s parenting style?

10. Why do you think Dr. Finch and Agnes remained together if they were not “emotionally and spiritually” married to each other?

11. Augusten acknowledges at times being slightly thrilled that his mother was such a mess. Could you relate to the idea of being addicted to crisis? Have you known people who are addicted to crisis?

12. How do you feel about a romantic partner being obsessed with you? What did you think of Neil’s obsession with Augusten (“Sometimes I want to hold you so tight it scares me. Like I want to hold you until the life is gone, so you can’t ever vanish.”)?

13. Augusten explained that he liked that there was always someone awake at the house ready for fun. Would you find anything appealing about living in the Finch house?

14. What does it mean to find yourself? Have you ever found yourself? Are you still looking?

15. Dr. Finch believed that a person was free at thirteen. What age is someone free? How have you determined this?

16. What did you think of Natalie and Augusten tearing down the kitchen ceiling? Do you agree with Dr. Finch that it brought a sense of humor to the kitchen? Have you ever done anything like this or had an impulse to?

17. What did you think of Augusten explaining that hurting Neil was his favorite thing to do next to hairdressing? (He states that he likes the sense of control, that Neil makes him feel powerful.)

18. Do you ever feel like you are so close to someone that they can read your mind? If so, does this make you uncomfortable when you don’t want your thoughts to be known?

19. Is Augusten a sociopath? What did you think of him stating that only a very small part of him felt sorry for the cat (who seemed to ultimately have been starved to death)?

20. Augusten explains that pot provided him with a kaleidoscopic view of everything that was wrong with him. Does pot (or drugs in general) ever impact you in this way?

21. Augusten often describes a feeling of complete freedom. How important is it to you to feel free? Where does the feeling of freedom rank on your hierarchy of values?

    • Can too many options make you feel trapped?

    • “The problem with not having anybody to tell you what do, I understood, is that there was nobody to tell you what not to do.”

22. Are you able to block out all emotions when dealing with horrible situations?

23. Augusten explains that he thought casual sex was disgusting. Is casual sex disgusting?

24. Why do you think Augusten chose “Running with Scissors” as the title of his memoir?

25. What did you think of the ending of the book?