Taste A Chapter

Over the last few months, I've spoken more about "This Is How: Help For The Self" (2012) than any recent book I've finished. Author Augusten Burroughs is widely known for the bestselling memoir "Running With Scissors". His new book is self-help gone awry; not for everyone but it landed hard with me.

Burroughs' off-center tone had me from the start as he describes mentally dismembering a stranger encountered on an elevator. Met anyone like this? You're minding your own business, perhaps deep in thought and (GASP!!) not smiling. Someone then takes it upon themselves to interrupt your reverie and deliver a pep talk. "Come on, think positive..." or "Would a smile hurt?", etc. Burroughs' profane remarks about this kind of mindless nincompoop are priceless. I knew immediately the book was for me.

The tender sections of "This Is How" are just as effective as the funny parts. The chapter called "How to Change the World By Yourself", describing 15 year old Claudette Colvin's decision to keep her seat on a Montgomery bus was particularly powerful. Although I knew Rosa Parks was not the first person to defy  Jim Crow, her historical veneration aside, Burroughs brought Colvin's name front and center for me. I'm grateful for that.    
     
Finally, in the chapter entitled "How To Live Unhappily Ever After", Burroughs' refreshing take on happiness gave me more solace than several self-help books I've read combined. I thought about reproducing here seven sentences from that chapter captured in my book journal. Instead, why not read  just that chapter while you're in a book store or library? Even money you'll then buy or borrow this gem.