This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike. [Hardcover]

Augusten Burroughs (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 8, 2012

If you're fat and fail every diet, if you're thin but can't get thin enough, if you lose your job, if your child dies, if you are diagnosed with cancer, if you always end up with exactly the wrong kind of person, if you always end up alone, if you can't get over the past, if your parents are insane and ruining your life, if you really and truly wish you were dead, if you feel like it's your destiny to be a star, if you believe life has a grudge against you, if you don't want to have sex with your spouse and don't know why, if you feel so ashamed, if you're lost in life. If you have ever wondered, How am I aupposed to survive this?

 

This is How.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2012: In writing and in life, Augusten Burroughs has repeatedly summoned the courage to grab the wolves of his past by their foaming muzzles and peer into their wild eyes until he owns them--and because of this, he's survived nearly every horrific experience a person in a modern-day, first-world country could face and emerged as an astonishingly well-adjusted person. After turning his profoundly messed-up early life and its alcoholic aftermath into six harrowing, uplifting memoirs--including Running with Scissors and Dry--Burroughs lost interest in writing about himself. He kept meeting people who were locked in the same struggles he’d overcome and decided they needed to know they had options for fixing their lives. In This Is How, Burroughs delivers prescriptions for handling life's most pernicious problems. Don't let the snake-oil-salesmannish title put you off: this is raw, hard-knock-life advice, veering from brutal to hilarious to deeply compassionate. Burroughs doesn’t really believe in "happiness" or "healing." He’s honest about the limits of recovery, but even those in the depths of despair will be energized by his exhortations to claw their way back to OK, even if it means leaving the life they’ve known in the dust. --Mari Malcolm

Review

"The last self-help book you'll ever read."—Janice Harper, The Huffington Post

“Hilarious and searingly straight forward…Burroughs turns the self-help genre upside-down.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Fans of the author’s massively popular confessional memoirs will likely agree with that statement, and all of the wisdom he dispenses in his new book — delivered with the dark, acidic humor we’ve come to expect — is certainly well-earned."—The Boston Globe
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312563558
• ISBN-13: 978-0312563554
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (170 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Augusten Burroughs is the author of the autobiographical works "Running with Scissors," "Dry," "Magical Thinking," "Possible Side Effects" and "A Wolf at the Table," all of which were New York Times bestsellers. "Running with Scissors" remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two consecutive years and was made into a Golden Globe-nominated film starring Annette Bening. His only novel, "Sellevision," is currently in development as a series for NBC. "Dry," Augusten's memoir of his alcoholism and recovery, is being developed by Showtime. In addition, Burroughs is currently creating an original prime-time series for CBS. Augusten's latest book is called "You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas."

Twice named to Entertainment Weekly's list of the funniest people in America, Augusten has also been the subject of a Vanity Fair cover story and a Jeopardy! answer. His books have made guest appearances in two James Patterson novels, one Linkin Park music video, numerous television shows and a porn movie.

Augusten has been a photographer since childhood and many of his images can be seen on his website, www.augusten.com. He lives in New York City.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

175 of 186 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Actual Advice March 30, 2012

By booksy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Judging by the slightly whimsical cover of this book and having read a couple of Augusten Burroughs' previous memoirs, I was expecting a darkly humorous skewering of the self-help movement and the state of psychiatry today. Burroughs has had a difficult life and has extensive experience with all sorts of social and mental health issues, as well as a lot of time spent with at least one psychiatrist, so I really thought it would be savagely funny.

Wrong! This is actually an honest-to-goodness self-help book. Sure, it might seem to be coming from a somewhat twisted perspective, and flies in the face of a lot of standard tropes of self-help, but Mr. Burroughs has written a serious and probing book about improving one's mental life and dealing with all sorts of issues, from addiction to grief. Each chapter discusses a different topic, and though the chapter headings might point to humor ("How to Fail," "How to End Your Life"), Burroughs has really thought through what he wants to say and lays it out in a mostly straightforward, honest way.

I think that some people will take issue with some of Burroughs' unconventional thoughts on certain issues like AA (he's got problems with it) and using affirmations (against it). He points out the mistakes that people make when thinking about their problems and offers solutions that worked for him. He uses examples from his own life to illustrate his points, instead of the cheery composite characters that most self-help books come up with. I loved that he writes in a straightforward manner and doesn't use ridiculous "systems" (follow the BrightThought principle!) or bullet points to cheerlead you on. It's refreshing to read a more realistic view of the world.

The prose does seem a little dry to me, especially when I was expecting something more humorous or flippant, but it's definitely more readable than the standard self-help book. I didn't agree with everything he said and take it all with a grain of salt, but I think this book holds up as well as anything else written by a psychologist or psychiatrist. It could be helpful for a person who struggles with their problems yet hasn't found a solution in the typical self-help book, a person who doesn't want to try to force themselves to be cheerful all the time or follow prescribed notions of how to be "happy."

I read a pre-publication copy, so I'm hoping that it isn't marketed as humor or memoir because I think people will get the wrong impression. I liked the front cover (it has a little blurry mirror embedded in it and a kind of old-fashioned hucksterish typestyle), but it also gives the impression that it's going to be humor. Frankly, I was a little disappointed and don't think it's his best work, but it seems like it was something that he really needed to write and he genuinely seems to want to help others with his advice.

106 of 113 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Uncle Augie Tells it All May 8, 2012

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

My best friend was a little shocked when I explained that I'd read none of Augusten Burroughs' memoirs and had never even seen the movie. "I gather he had an unconventional upbringing," I said. My friend looked at me goggle-eyed.

So, I am not an Augusten Burroughs fan, and I'm significantly less a fan of the self-help genre. Why did I pick up this book? Well, it really was an unintimidating size, a factor which should never be underestimated. And the book has buzz. I like to read what people are talking about. But, perhaps most of all, I was expecting a self-help satire--I mean, look at the full title. But the joke was on me, because despite a little irreverent humor, Mr. Burroughs appears to be quite sincere in his advice giving.

Certainly, I paused a few times and wondered at his qualifications as an advice-provider, beyond, apparently, having made quite a few mistakes in his life. I didn't always agree with his suggestions, though most had the feel of good common sense that you sometimes need to hear from someone else. The author appears to be dispensing advice with kindness. What surprised me the most was that I kept turning pages, reading the book from cover to cover in an afternoon. It held my interest.

I think this was due to the breadth of topics covered. Some chapters were longer than others, but Mr. Burroughs kept things moving along swiftly. There was never a chance to grow bored. Each chapter is presented as a "How to," and they are as follows:

How to Ride an Elevator
How to Feel Like "S" word (It doesn't say that; edited to appease Amazon Powers That Be)
How to Find Love
How to Be Fat
How to Be Thin
How to Feel Sorry for Yourself
How to Be Confident
How to Fail
How to Shatter Shame
How to See the Truth Behind the Truth
How to End Your Life
How to Remain Unhealed
Why Having It All Is Not
How to Get Over Your Addiction to the Past
How to Be a Good Mental Patient
How to Make Yourself Uncomfortable (And Why You Should)
How to Finish Your Drink
How to Hold on to Your Dream Or Maybe Not
How to Identify Love by Knowing What It's Not
How to Live Unhappily Ever After
How to Feel Less Regret
How to Stop Being Afraid of Your Anger
How to Be Sick
How to Lose Someone You Love
How to Let a Child Die
How to Change the World by Yourself
This is Why

These may not seem like typical self-help topics, but I promise you, if there isn't something here that has resonance in your life, well, you lead a charmed life indeed. And, as you may gather by some of these chapter headings, some of it gets heavy. Difficult topics are handled with sensitivity.

I'm not entirely sure who this book is aimed at. I suppose if you're already a Burroughs fan, you'll just enjoy this visit with a well-meaning friend. And if you're a big consumer of self-help books, this is a buffet, with a little bit of everything. I'm neither, and this was not a book I really need to read--and yet, I don't regret having done so. Perhaps the advice will come in handy someday.

71 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't ask anything more of a book. March 29, 2012

By IndigoHeirlooms

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

It's hard to write a review of a book this good. It's like reading Mark Twain or Marcus Aurelius and coming up with words that describe the experience. This is How - was funny, horrifying, amusing and inspiring. It made me smile, cry, pull back, and in the end it gave hope. It is a glorious book about being human with all the pain and love that humanity includes. Self-Help? who cares if it is or isn't. This book is interesting from cover to cover.