A review by reading_rainbow_with_chris
Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs

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.