A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father

When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named.Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten’s childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn’t exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested.

With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent.

In an innovative collaboration, four musicians—Patti Smith, Ingrid Michaelson, Tegan Quin, and Sea Wolf—composed and recorded original and exclusive songs for the audiobook of A Wolf at the Table. Augusten himself was deeply involved in the scoring and sound design for the audiobook program, explaining his vision for the project as “a truly cinematic, theatrical experience for the listener in which the musical score reflects what is happening in the story throughout.” Though harrowing and brutal, it will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It’s a listening experience that is not to be missed.