A lawsuit recently filed in Massachusetts accuses author Augusten Burroughs of defamation, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and fraud. The lawsuit, filed by the Turcotte family, contends that Burroughs’s memoir, Running With Scissors ( St. Martin’s Press, 2002), includes false information about themselves and the late Dr. Rodolph Turcotte, a psychiatrist who took custody of Burroughs at age 9. Also named in the lawsuit are Burroughs’s editor, agent, and publisher. The Turcotte family (changed to Finch in the book) is asking that the book no longer be published as a work of nonfiction. They are also requesting a public statement that it is not a memoir. Burroughs has not commented on the lawsuit. A movie adaptation of Running With Scissors, featuring Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow, is set to be released next year.
