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bardo's review against another edition
5.0
So I have to admit this right away.... I heart Augusten Burroughs. I have followed him from the very first book he wrote. So this may be a bias review since i am familiar with the author and like his work.I have to just warn everyone right now. Burroughs is an acquired taste. Just like Christopher Moore, Douglas Coupland and Chuck Palahniuk. In that the stories they tell are average events but just left of center..... OK maybe a mile away from center.
Lust & Wonder is everything I want in a memoir about love. Burroughs rips off the bandage and allows the reader to see both the beauty and pain of love. Through the failed relationships that Burroughs experiences gives the reader an insight to how a person can change with each person. Through out the book the reader will want to cry, laugh and smack Burroughs for the challenges that he himself makes and encounters externally. Through his eccentric personality and crafty story telling the reader sees that every person has flaws but can be loved because of them. Regret and the fear of loss was so well written with a touch of humor it was hard not to fall in love with the people depicted. Through his writing he makes the reader feel less alone in the way love is experienced. It was also interesting to read about how his other memoirs and fiction books came to life. By reading this book, it gave me more of an appreciation for all his other ones.
Quotes:
- Knowing what you don't feel is also a feeling
-Only there had been a fire, so everything I was hugging was crumbling in my arms because home was almost not there anymore
- That's impossible, I require him.
- I was an emotional Great Dane, hugely needy and clumsy
- I believe that my own hope was enough for two
- Building a house together is a real test of a relationship
* A copy of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley*
Lust & Wonder is everything I want in a memoir about love. Burroughs rips off the bandage and allows the reader to see both the beauty and pain of love. Through the failed relationships that Burroughs experiences gives the reader an insight to how a person can change with each person. Through out the book the reader will want to cry, laugh and smack Burroughs for the challenges that he himself makes and encounters externally. Through his eccentric personality and crafty story telling the reader sees that every person has flaws but can be loved because of them. Regret and the fear of loss was so well written with a touch of humor it was hard not to fall in love with the people depicted. Through his writing he makes the reader feel less alone in the way love is experienced. It was also interesting to read about how his other memoirs and fiction books came to life. By reading this book, it gave me more of an appreciation for all his other ones.
Quotes:
- Knowing what you don't feel is also a feeling
-Only there had been a fire, so everything I was hugging was crumbling in my arms because home was almost not there anymore
- That's impossible, I require him.
- I was an emotional Great Dane, hugely needy and clumsy
- I believe that my own hope was enough for two
- Building a house together is a real test of a relationship
* A copy of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley*
amberlou105's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
3.25
A bit rambling at times but I'm so happy for a happy ending
cora_the_explorer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
reading_rainbow_with_chris's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
“Lust and Wonder” by Augusten Burroughs
In this book, memoirist Augusten Burroughs chronicles his attempts at making a home with someone in his middle adulthood. Considering his relationships with men who are not good fits, his attempts to make them fit, and finding what really makes for a happy partnered home, Burroughs travels the span of over a decade toward his happiness.
This is one of those memoirs that I have mixed feelings about. This is my first time reading a Burroughs book and I found elements of it very thoughtful, funny, and very relatable to my own journey toward making a home as a gay man. His writing is sharp, direct, and doesn’t hide the good or bad of an experience, making for an clear sense of how he sees his own experiences (ie. the memory element of the memoir on display). That said, I don’t know if I will seek out another of his books. Burroughs’s direct, frank recollections make me feel like I know who this person is, how they will see other situations. What new can be gained from another memoir? And, to be perfectly honest, Burroughs at times can be kind of a dick, and while I don’t need my memoirists to be perfectly likable, hints of self-reflection or growth that would have redeemed him aren’t there. The relationship he ends up in feels as if it just gives him a pass, or if anything feeds those tendencies. Again, if that is our narrator, what more can be learned from another memoir of the same persona? I’m not sure there is much more to be found.
So all in all, this is a fine memoir with some great moments, but it also doesn’t do much for the genre in terms of interesting narrative choices, structure, devices, or content. It’s alright. And that’s ok.
kirsten0929's review against another edition
5.0
Was it perfect, no. Did it ramble off track a little sometimes, sure. Feel like a little filler thrown in here and there, maybe. But five stars for pure enjoyment and laughter.