I didn't like the stories from when he was a kid, but the others more than made up for them. ( )

This was a book of anecdotes from the author’s life that all involved Christmas. They are sometimes funny and sometimes serious and poignant. There is a bit of raunchy here and there and a bit of disgusting in a couple of places. Although all the stories were about some type of life disaster, they kept my interest and all ended on a hopeful note. ( )

A collection of personal essays about memorable Christmases. Some are humorous, such as when a very young Burroughs was gifted a life-sized Santa doll that had a wax face, which he chewed off. Other essays are bleak, featuring disease, death and betrayal. I don't know how much of these stories are true and how much is fiction, as "Why Do You Reward Me Thus?" reads like a made for tv movie, with the author getting blackout drunk for two days, then waking up on Christmas day to find himself among lucid, caring people who happen to be the group of homeless people who camp on the street near his NYC apartment. That one of these people studied opera and sings an aria to him while doling out profound advice about life made me roll my eyes. Still, an interesting holiday-themed collection. ( )

You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs is a collection of Christmas essays that range from exceedingly funny to mind-blowingly sad. I was practically in tears after reading the second to last essay entitled “The Best and Only Everything”, and then the last story, for me the gem of the collection, “Silent Night” ended the book on a perfect note. This was not the book I thought it was going to be, but a much more meaningful and deeper reading experience.

The stories run the gamut from abrasively funny, to cynically sentimental, yet instead of an anti-Christmas book, I felt quite warm and fuzzy after I turned the last page. These are certainly not your typical Christmas stories as You Better Not Cry is full of disasters and bad decisions and I think there will be some people put off by his darkness, yet his writing is beautifully descriptive and whether he is writing about his confusion over Santa Claus or his own sexuality, this book comes across as both witty and honest. ( )

These are some stories, memories, of Christmas past by Burroughs. The first ones are from his childhood when little Augusten didn’t know the difference between Santa and Jesus or just wanted all the presents he definitely could get. As the young kid becomes a young man the problems become more severe. And although I started some of these stories thinking “Get over it! Not another booze and wimpy I-am-so-miserable-story”, they all turn out being beautiful images of a life, of experiences and of human interaction that leads to new insights.
Well, I loved “The Best and Only Everything” best because the way Burroughs describes his first long-lasting relationship is so touching and moving, not only because of all the romantic moments, but mainly because of all the true human feelings like dislike, hate, disappointment and regret that are in it, too. And after having read “Silent Night” I really got the Christmassy feeling.
A wonderful read, not only on the 25th of December. ( )