AE: How does Possible Side Effects compare to Magical Thinking?
AB: It's very different. I wrote all of it here recently, in my house. Magical Thinking was a mix—a couple of essays were previously published, some were emails I wrote to my friend Suzanne years ago. A couple of the essays were written when I was an active alcoholic, so there's a lack of self-awareness and absolute rage simmering just below the surface. Both works are similarly constructed yet diverge in tone.
AE: The blurb says it explores the concept of “cause and effect”. Can you explain?
AB: People always think the grass is greener on the other side, wishing for what they don't have, or to be where they are not now. I've found that everything wonderful comes from something horrible. There is no pure perfection—everything is tainted. You have to be happy with who you are. I've always been drawn to extremes, as well as the grey area between the extremes, which actually is the best place to be.
AE: Are there more stories about your loving relationship with Dennis?
AB: Absolutely. And stories about my brother, and my dueling grandmothers. My fraternal grandmother, I absolutely adored. My maternal grandmother, I couldn't stand. My last words to her before she died were, “You're a c***!,” which is a horrible thing to say to your grandmother. There's also a story about my quitting advertising and becoming a New York City police officer, and what a failure that turned out to be.
AE: I heard you met Dennis through a personal ad. Is that a polite euphemism for steam room or Manhunt hookup?
AB: [Laughing] We really met on one of those dating web sites. It was very specific and you type in exactly what you want. His was the number-one picture to pop up, and I just loved the way he looked. It was the first personal ad he ever wrote, and it was the one-billionth ad I had run or answered. I had dated before, but I'd never been psychologically ready. I met him the week Sellevision was coming out. I didn't care about making money or advertising anymore. I knew I'd be a writer for the rest of my life. I was really, really, really happy.
AE: How does it feel to have your work brought to the big screen for the first time?
AB: Amazing. I was actually never going to option Running With Scissors because I felt it would be so easy to make a really bad movie, but Ryan Murphy was really persistent. I finally agreed to lunch and he talked about his mother the whole time. She sounded so much like mine. He had such a deep empathy for the material, it was as if he wrote it. So I did a 180° and went with my gut instinct. I never rationally think things through—I just blurt it out.
AE: How involved were you with the film?
AB: Although Ryan was the screenwriter, he called me every day for input. I felt very much part of the process. He wanted to know what the tables and couches looked like—even the fabrics. I briefed the actors. There's a lot of me in that film. I'm really lucky, because most writers do not come out of this experience feeling the way I do. On set, the saying was, “That's how it is in the book.” Ryan was very loyal to the story.
AE: Were you pleased with the result?
AB: It's not like any movie I've ever seen. It doesn't feel American, or anything that came out of Hollywood, that's for sure. I honestly don't know how to describe it, but I love it. The performances were outstanding. Joseph Cross [who plays Augusten] is a fine actor, I just adored him. He's an unknown, but not for long.
AE: How did they portray the gay aspect of the story?
AB: They handled it brilliantly. I don't want to give it away, but it's so much cleverer than you'd think. It's really not explicit—you don't see dicks swinging or simulated sex. But what you do see is more shocking. It just makes you go, “Oh my God!” It just drives it home. It's a visceral movie. You really go through an emotional, rollercoaster journey. Test audiences have responded incredibly to it. There was lots of boo-hooing.
AE: Do you think being openly gay has hindered your success in any way?
AB: Not one bit. I have a huge straight male audience. I get guys coming up to me at every reading saying, [in his mock-straight-dude voice] “I didn't know you were gay, and my girlfriend was talking about your book, so I read it and it was awesome. I wouldn't have read a book about a gay. But when I replaced ‘he' with ‘she' it was totally my life, man. I never realized f***in' gay people are the same as us.”
AE: Now that you're normal, is it hard coming up with new material?
AB: I always wanted to have a normal life but it's just not gonna happen. Some of the stories in Possible Side Effects prove that. Not long ago, on Christmas Eve, our faucet sprung a leak and flooded the house, Christmas tree and all. It was devastating to me, a horrible invasion. That kind of thing always seems to happen. I wish it wouldn't, but it does. But I feel lucky that I can turn that pain into cash.
For more info on Burroughs, go to www.augusten.com
