I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stunned by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word.

Some of his childhood experiences were chronicled in Running with Scissors (2002) which was later filmed. Burroughs divides time between New York City and Amherst Massachusetts. The Turcottes who alleged that Running with Scissors was largely fictional and written in a sensational manner sought damages of $2 million for invasion of privacy defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Augusten Xon Burroughs (born October 23 1965 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania) is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors (2002).