I am reading all of this guy's memoirs backwards now.
When I heard about this book, I had to get it, because it was advertised as "the book in which Augusten comes out as a witch." Since I am also a witch, I had to go get this and as someone in the same situation, I related to it VERY much and it was a delight to read. But I concur that I am also biased, and most of the world (as Augusten himself knows) is going to react differently. I bet this one isn't a hit like the others are, or at least when I checked the NYT best seller list, it's not on there, it wasn't being sold in my small town bookstores, I hadn't heard of it until after the book came out, etc. It is a best seller in Wicca and Witchcraft on Amazon, though! I've also seen not that many reviews of the book, some of which are all "I don't know whether or not to believe this, but it's an entertaining story...." and some are all, "Not enough witchcraft, too much living in Connecticut." We'll get to that last one.
Anyway, Augusten reveals that when he was 8 years old, he had a premonition on the school bus that something bad had happened to his grandmother, and when he got home, he demanded to know what had happened. His mother was on the phone with his uncle talking about it, and his grandmother had been in an accident. After that, Augusten's mother broke the news to him that he'd inherited the family witchy tendencies, along with herself, grandmother, and his uncle, though his uncle was in denial about it. I can say from somewhat similar experience (my own awakening also involved a grandmother, a few years later, and my mother was very matter of fact/no big deal about it) that if you have it broken to you in a calm and casual way, you will be okay with that rather than OMG TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE. So good for him. Anyway, until his mother had her mental breakdown, he learned from her how these things worked, both for other people and for himself and what their talents were. For the noobs, this is a good primer on How Being Witchy Works. For those of us in the tribe, you will be all, "I RELATE TO THIS I LOVE YOU AND WANT TO SEND FAN MAIL NOW." I don't necessarily have the same skills that he does, but I understand. And he admits that he would not believe in this shit at all except for the fact that it happens to him, and I agree: I wouldn't expect anyone to believe me unless they've been there and done that themselves.
Augusten talks about his past history with knowing things, magical events, and wanting things to happen and making them happen (coincidentally, a coworker of mine also does this and told me so today, I need to get tips), mixed in with "current events" since his last book. That would be the "boring Connecticut stuff." However, that does tie in with his magical skills, because he becomes convinced that he and his husband Christopher need to move out of NYC and uses his magical skills and intuition to find a house. Augusten loves their eventual house but immediately develops a "nemesis" sort of relationship with a bad tree, which he eventually has chopped up and taken away, in time to save their lives during a tornado. So it relates.
I do concur that the book wanders off magic for a bit, but that's because of circumstances. Christopher develops cirrhosis of the liver and it's supposed to be fatal, and the shock of this news fucks up Augusten and his powers disappear. Now, I've been there and done that too, and if you're in a traumatized state of mind, that can happen. I'd say that kind of news would do that to you. But eventually Augusten deduces/decides this blockage had more to do with his mother's death while they were still estranged, and he does some dreamwork to work things out with her and heal his magic skills again. And I am happy to report that despite his various illnesses, Christopher seems to be just fine. Whew!
It also covers how his being a witch ties into his relationship with Christopher, who didn't know he was a witch for years (Augusten took years to admit it), but Christopher did admit that he knew Augusten was..."extra." I did find this delightful article (note: Medium link, limits clicks) by Christopher himself saying that he knew something was going on but didn't have a name for it. In this book, Christopher takes it all pretty well, saying stuff like he's going to write down a list of the weird things that happen around Augusten. Augusten is all "it's gonna be a long list" and I am all, ME TOO, EXACTLY ME TOO ON THE LONG LIST! Christopher also takes advantage of Augusten's ability to find his keys and things like that, so he's cool with it and has his own tendencies like the whole 11:11 uh, thing. (Which fuck, now keeps happening to me like, daily now.) I find this reassuring as another weirdo who's wondering what eventually may go down with my current object of my affection, who says he is not into this sort of thing. Hmmmmmm...we'll see there.
After reading this book, I wanted to know more about their relationship. I had heard that Christopher had been his agent for ten years before they got together, but I wondered if since Augusten is a magical sort, was there anything magical about them getting together. Because in my case, the only guys I've ever been with longer than a few dates at least had one magical thing go down when I met them, and my current object of my affection that I am not dating yet, well...not at first but hoo boy, a lot of magic shit is going off in the last few months. And I think if you're a witchy sort, magic shit will go down if this is a good relationship for you to be in. I had to go read Lust and Wonder after this and while I'll post that review after this one, the answer is definitely yes to that. Stuff went on along those lines :) In retrospect, that book is a precursor to coming out of the magic closet.
Quote Corner:
- "There are three things you should know about witches. Number one: as long as there have been human beings there have been witch beings. Number two: witches have always been misunderstood."
- "Number three: witches are real. and witchcraft (hyphen) the work they do, their craft (hyphen) is also real."
- "I define a witch as someone (hyphen) female, male, neither, other, both (hyphen) who has the innate ability to focus on a desired outcome with such perfect clarity, intensity, and singularity that the desired outcome can materialize, provided it does not violate the natural laws of the universe....Frequently, they possess information that it does not seem possible one could have, such as knowledge of events that will occur further down the time line."
- "The thing is, I wouldn't believe in them,and I would privately ridicule any idiot who did, except for one thing: I am a witch. This is a fact I've kept to myself. Even my husband didn't know for years."
- "I'm going to start keeping a list of all the weird shit that happens around you. I really am." It's gonna be a long list, I think but don't say, and instead I smile."
- :"The law can account for a striking coincidence happening. It cannot account for a striking coincidence happening. It cannot account for a continuous string of them starting in childhood and continuing on and on and on throughout one's life. But witchcraft can."
- "It's after he is with me for several months that his worldview changes. He sees the shit that happens around me -- or because of me -- so now he is only 99.99 percent certain I can't turn him into a frog."
- "I'm supposed to be the realist," he continues ranting. "You're the one who does things like writing real checks for imaginary dogs to go in even more imaginary houses, so when exactly did I turn into you?"
- "For somebody who had never even experienced a coincidence in his life before meeting me, Christopher now knew that my seemingly irrational behavior was frequently warranted."
- "Hi, I'm something toddlers dress up as Halloween and there's not an educated, rational person o the planet who believes I am even remotely possible."
Four and a half stars. This is one of my favorite books of the year.
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