Online Book Group: Official Discussion Thread for A Wolf at the Table
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I just finished this today. I liked it overall, but having read Running With Scissors, I preferred that one much more. RwS had some quirky humor to it, whereas AWatT was pretty somber. I definitely felt for the author though. The part about the guinea pig was especially awful. And then the way that Augusten's father turns the dog against him... I really despised him at that point. It surprised me a little that Augusten kept in contact with his father as an adult, and with Augusten often being the one to contact him. But I suppose a part of him still longed for a relationship with his father.
Yea, definitely still looking for that lost relationship with his father. I was horrified by the detailed death of the GP....horrified. And then the dog...oh man. But wasn't finding the other dog in the woods the sweetest thing?
I read this book in record time. Wanting to know what the father was capable of doing to his son had me glued to the pages.
I think reading AWatT first is definitely an advantage to RwS...I felt like I knew all the details of the home when I picked up RwS, though I've only got one chapter down...still I feel connected to the family.
The brother teaching him to use the gun was amazing. In my head, I could hear music and see fireworks because you finally saw his character and felt the connection he had with Augusten.
I think it was written fantastically....and even though it was horrifying I enjoyed it through the very last page.
The attempts made to get the fathers attention were hilarious. And then when we read of "father doll"...is that what he called it? Oh man, hilarious. Sick, but hilarious. The construction worker thinking he was a girl....oh my goodness.
I hesitated reading this before the online polls determined it because I felt too familiar with the subject, being a single mother of a young boy, I worried I'd discover more faults than I thought I had...but that wasn't the case with this story, it was truely one of a kind and is another reason why I'll continue reading memoirs.
One thing I didn't like...I had a hard time with the young memories Augusten had and wrote from in the beginning. But, as he grew I grew into it.
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Yeah, the descriptions of the two animal deaths were horrible. And it really speaks to the power of blunt, direct writing to flowery, wispy writing that might impress people. He really got his point across there.
I actually haven't read RwS (I do plan to get around to it eventually), but I have read his memoir "Dry" which is about his rehab, and I highly recommend it. In fact, his problems with abuse make even more sense now. But althought Dry and RwS are more dark humor, this one was just more...dark. Scary, even.
You thought it was funny? Interesting...I thought it was unbearably sad. Just made me feel like crap. The kid finally thinks he's glimpsed what a male figure might be like and...the male figure thinks he's a girl. Ugh...
I've never been a big fan of memoirs, but his are the exception. They truely pack a punch.
I found his relationship with the father doll to be funny, sad yes, but definitely humorous. It was all in his wording I guess,when the mother discovered it, or didn't....great.
I was able to see the mother as I read about her. Her actions, the faces she'd make, when she was driving and asked Augusten to fetch her meds, everything. The construction worker thinking he was a she was tragically funny, because he didn't seem upset about it, just embarrassed, but since he'd no connection with his father, the let down of this man thinking he was a she, didn't seem so intense. He just accepted it and moved on.
I was able to see the mother as I read about her. Her actions, the faces she'd make, when she was driving and asked Augusten to fetch her meds, everything. The construction worker thinking he was a she was tragically funny, because he didn't seem upset about it, just embarrassed, but since he'd no connection with his father, the let down of this man thinking he was a she, didn't seem so intense. He just accepted it and moved on.
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I only picked up the book today and I'm to chapter six now, but I feel like I'm slogging through it, forcing myself to read it. I'm just not connecting with AB as a boy. But I'm trying. . .
I keep thinking, "Why is this supposed to interest me? Most fathers were like this before the fairly recent parenting revolution."
I keep thinking, "Why is this supposed to interest me? Most fathers were like this before the fairly recent parenting revolution."
I started off thinking along the same lines as you, MissKris. I thought, yeah, my father ignored me too. What's so special about this particular case? But then I started to see Augusten's father as more than a neglectful alcoholic. There really is something ominous and disturbing about him. Even as just a character in a book, he gave me the creeps.
And I totally agree with you, Jennifer, about seeing the mother so vividly. I got a great image of her based on Augusten's descriptions. I liked her more in this book than RwS BTW,but I think that's going to be natural, because she is more nurturing here.
And I totally agree with you, Jennifer, about seeing the mother so vividly. I got a great image of her based on Augusten's descriptions. I liked her more in this book than RwS BTW,but I think that's going to be natural, because she is more nurturing here.
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KEEP READING.
I also didn't feel for the young boy narrating. But trust me, it gets intense.