Real optimism is not the pep talk you give yourself. It is earned through the labor involved in emotional housekeeping.

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).