Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs was first published in 2002 as a memoir. After several of the figures it features sued for defamation and dishonesty of its claims, however, it was recategorized as a book. It can also be classified as a bildungsroman since it follows the adolescent growth of its narrator and protagonist. Running with Scissors was adapted into a feature film in 2006.

This guide uses the 2002 Picador edition of the book.

Content Warning: The source material features graphic depictions of sexual assault of a minor, drug use, discussions of suicide, domestic violence, and derogatory language in reference to people with mental health conditions.

Plot Summary

The book opens in 1976, when Augusten Burroughs is 11, by describing—from Augusten’s point of view—his deep childhood fixation on being like his mother (Dierdre) and becoming famous. He emulates her every move and hates it when she leaves the house. His father, Norman, is emotionally absent, and when his mother is out, Augusten spends the time dressing, acting, and talking like her. His parents fight regularly, often violently, and eventually seek the support of unconventional psychiatrist Dr. Finch. Augusten is unsure what to think of him but likes his daughter Hope, a receptionist at the clinic. When Augusten’s parents get divorced, he’s optimistic about the future.

A year later, Dierdre spends hours each day with Dr. Finch. Augusten develops a close friendship with Hope, relying on her to answer questions he can’t ask anyone else. During a session, Dr. Finch shows Dierdre and Augusten a room designated for masturbating. Inside, Hope is asleep on the couch; Dr. Finch pretends he’s angry with her, trying to help Dierdre release her inner rage. Hope later tells Augusten she’s holding out for a man like her father, and Augusten wonders why. Dierdre increasingly relies on Dr. Finch and one day is invited, with Augusten, to visit his home. There, Augusten watches as the Finch daughters Natalie and Vickie pretend to be shocked by an electroshock machine, frightening their younger brother, Poo Bear. Uncomfortable and afraid, Augusten asks to leave but instead learns that he’ll be staying there for a week while his mother goes to a motel. Dr. Finch claims that Norman is trying to kill her and she must be kept safe, but Augusten notices that she seems dazed and unlike her usual self.

At the Finch home, Augusten learns about Joranne, a patient of Dr. Finch’s who lives there. She has an obsessive-compulsive disorder and stays in her room, but Augusten is eager to meet her. Afterward, he wonders if he’ll be stuck at the Finch house for years like her. His mother picks him up a week later but is still emotionally absent and barely speaks to him. At 13, Augusten avoids attending seventh grade, instead writing in his journal or seeing movies. One afternoon, he stops at home to find his mother and her Christian friend, Fern, engaged in oral sex. Fern leaves, horrified at being caught, but Dierdre breezily cites her oppression as a woman and warns Augusten against being part of it.

Dr. Finch encourages his family to vent their anger, so they often fight with one another, and physical altercations sometimes ensue. The girls use psychoanalysis to insult each other; Dr. Finch and his wife argue over his mistresses. Augusten picks up the habit, arguing with his mother in the same vulgar way. He reveals that his older brother, Troy, has always been the one he can rely on, despite their having nothing in common. Troy has autism and is emotionally disconnected, preferring to spend his time and energy on electrical engineering. Augusten misses him deeply but is glad that Troy was spared the chaos of the Finches.

Neil, the Finch family’s adopted son—who’s 33—rapes Augusten, who’s still only 13. Afterward, Augusten feels trapped and powerless, as if he’ll never be the same. Neil has little regard for his feelings, and Augusten spends the night restlessly. Days later, Neil apologizes, and Augusten naively falls for Neil, becoming heavily reliant on him. His mother seems dismissive about their age difference. Dr. Finch warns him that Neil has deep problems, but Augusten is too young to truly understand this. Desperate to avoid school and be close to Neil, Augusten agrees to Dr. Finch’s suggestion to fake a death-by-suicide attempt and spends two weeks in the hospital, after which he becomes closer with Neil. Dierdre soon gives Dr. Finch full guardianship of Augusten.

Natalie moves back in with the Finch family after her relationship with her 41-year-old boyfriend/guardian is revealed as abusive. She and Augusten bond over their difficult and toxic love lives and decide to break open the kitchen ceiling. They install a skylight but leave a large gap; the family learns to live with the permanent hole. Dr. Finch becomes temporarily obsessed with his bowel movements, which he considers communications from God; this obsession ends when he becomes constipated. Natalie tells Augusten that he should become a writer and document all that happened at the Finch house. Natalie and Augusten develop a singing hobby and book a performance at the psychiatric hospital. It goes well until a disgruntled patient spits on Natalie, who spits back at him.

Hope wakes Augusten one night after dreaming that her cat, Freud, is dying. She then carries the cat around for several days and watches his every move, making him suffer. Another dream convinces her that he wants to die in peace with her help, so she traps him in a laundry basket in the basement. The cat dies after four days, and Hope clings to the belief that he was ill. A week later, she thinks she hears him speaking to her from his burial place in the yard. When she goes to dig him up, Augusten calls Dr. Finch, who convinces her to rest instead.

Augusten and Neil’s toxic interdependence continues, and Dierdre has another psychotic episode after Dorothy, her new girlfriend, moves in. Augusten admires how Dierdre seems to view her mental health condition as part of her artistic journey. When the hospital releases her, she brings home a man named Cesar, who later tries to rape Augusten. Cesar then moves to the Finch house but is asked to leave after turning Natalie into a sex worker. Dr. Finch begins to lose patients and money, and Hope is highly stressed, scratching her head constantly. When Natalie insults her for it, they argue; Natalie and Augusten then leave the house. After filling out job applications at McDonald’s, they visit Smith College, where they walk under a waterfall, hand in hand—an experience both find deeply bonding and freeing. Augusten senses a shift in his mother’s mental state and arrives home one night to find her in a bathtub filled with broken glass and her blood. He calls Hope for help. When Hope arrives, Dierdre is irate and hurls dishes at Augusten, barely missing his head. Hope calls 911, and Dierdre is taken away.

Months pass, and Dierdre seems even worse. Dr. Finch takes her, along with Augusten, Neil, Hope, and Dorothy, to a motel for intensive treatment. Augusten loses sleep worrying whether she’ll ever improve. While there, Dierdre meets Winnie, who senses that Dr. Finch is trying to take advantage of Dierdre. Winnie shows up later to find Dr. Finch on top of Dierdre, restraining her. She demands that he leave and spends three days with Dierdre, trying to help her feel better. Afterward, Dierdre seems more cheerful, but Augusten worries that she’s still sick. Neil vanishes, taking a train to Manhattan, and is never heard from again. Initially hurt, Augusten recovers, and by the time he’s 16, he’s ready for true freedom.

In May, the Christmas tree is still up in the Finch house because nobody wants to deal with it. Augusten recalls Christmas at age 10, when his mother spent hours decorating a massive tree before pushing it to the floor in a fit of rage. Natalie gets a job at McDonald’s, using her first paycheck to take Augusten whale watching and to a lobster dinner in Cape Cod. They discuss their futures; he wants to be a writer, and she aspires to psychology and singing. When Augusten turns 17, they share an apartment. He attempts college but finds it isn’t for him. Meanwhile, Dierdre breaks free of Dr. Finch, revealing that he overmedicated her, raped her, and took advantage of her emotionally. Natalie refuses to believe this and forces Augusten to choose between them; ultimately, he chooses neither the Finches nor his mother, instead moving to New York to become a writer.