Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking: Transfixed by Transsexuals

Ironically, "Transfixed by Transsexual" is both the most profoundly disturbing (from a squeamish hetero point of view) and the only one so far with a somewhat happy ending. Burroughs' reveals that he resisted the temptation to undergo transformative surgery by purchasing a male puppy and naming him "Becky." Do not be fooled by this note of light humour - the rest of the piece is made up primarily of descriptions of various surgeries and their after-effects. I found myself skipping over one or two particularly gruesome passages, which I will refrain from quoting here at the risk of losing marks for lack of detail. To me, these parts of the story are grossly unnecessary. To others, they might provide that dash of disgust that one might look for in a Chuck Pahlaniuk book or a Quentin Tarantino film. Regardless, while it was of course well written, the piece was my least favourite of those I've read so far.