Many of the descriptions and claims about events revolving around the following figures (which are renamed in the book) have been disputed and should not be taken as strict fact.

The protagonist and writer of Running with Scissors is Augusten. The book details his adolescence and the catastrophic experiences that permeated this time of his life. As a child, Augusten wants to emulate his mother and be famous: “I love shiny things, I love stars. Someday, I want to be a star like my mother, like Maude” (8). He enjoys feeling a sense of importance and watching his mother in her everyday existence. When she isn’t around, he spends his time recreating her every move, even arranging his room with aluminum foil and lights to create a lighting effect and make him feel like he’s worthy of worship. He learns this false sense of bravado from his mother, and it slowly wears away as he distances himself from her during his youth. In addition, Augusten admires doctors, believing that they’re all rich, clean, and important—but when he meets Dr. Finch, all his notions of the stereotypical doctor fade away (which highlights the theme of The

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