The Unfiltered Story of Augusten Burroughs — Memoirist, Survivor, Storyteller

From Turbulent Beginnings to a Name That Resonated

Born Christopher Richter Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Augusten Burroughs grew up under complicated circumstances.  Raised by a poet mother and a philosopher father, he and his older brother experienced a childhood filled with instability. At 18, seeking to reshape his identity and break from a painful past, he legally changed his name to Augusten Xon Burroughs — a symbolic fresh start.

Leaving behind a conventional path (he briefly enrolled in college as a pre-med student before dropping out), he relocated to New York City and worked in advertising — a milieu far removed from his chaotic upbringing.

When Memoir Became His Redemption

The turning point came when Burroughs transformed his painful memories into his greatest strength. In 2002, he published Running with Scissors, a raw and unflinching memoir of his childhood. The book struck a chord with readers and spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Flush with early success, he followed up with Dry (2003), a memoir about his struggle with alcoholism and recovery; Magical Thinking (2004), a collection of essays about his adult life; and later works like A Wolf at the Table (2008), which confronted his troubled relationship with his father.

Through candid storytelling and emotional honesty, Burroughs carved a unique place in contemporary memoir literature: not as polished fiction, but as visceral, deeply personal truth — offering readers a mirror into trauma, survival, and ultimately, resilience.

A Life Reshaped — Relationships, Identity, and Home

While his early works excavated a chaotic childhood, later chapters of Burroughs’s life have taken on more stable, self-defined contours. In January 2005, he spoke publicly about his longtime partner, graphic designer Dennis Pilsits, advocating for equal rights for same-sex couples.

That relationship evolved: on April 1, 2013, Burroughs married his longtime agent and partner, Christopher Schelling, at Staten Island Borough Hall in New York City.

Today, Burroughs and Schelling share a life in rural Western Massachusetts — a far cry from his turbulent childhood roots. There, they run an eclectic and artistic boutique called The Shiny Black Door, offering everything from rare manuscripts to fine jewelry and artworks.

Success Beyond Memoir — Influence, Legacy, and Diversified Passions

To date, Burroughs’s works have been published in more than 30 countries and have sold over 10 million copies — a testament to his global reach and enduring relevance.

Beyond his role as a bestselling author, he has ventured into other creative and professional arenas. According to his own site, Burroughs is also a Certified Professional Gemologist, regarded among the foremost authorities on jade and jade jewelry in America — a lesser-known but intriguing facet of his identity beyond writing.

His ability to reinvent himself — from troubled youth to celebrated author, from recovering addict to entrepreneur and artisan — speaks to a broader narrative of transformation, self-acceptance, and reinvention.

What Is His Estimated Net Worth?

Public records and interviews do not provide a precise, widely accepted figure for Augusten Burroughs’s net worth. As is often the case for creative professionals, his income streams — book royalties, possible film/project deals (for instance, the film adaptation of Running with Scissors), income from his boutique The Shiny Black Door, and his gemology endeavors — are varied and not fully transparent.

However, given his status as a globally best-selling author, with millions of books sold, and his diversified ventures, it is reasonable to infer that his net worth is substantial. Without verifiable financial disclosures, though, any specific number would be speculative rather than factual — and thus not aligned with reliable reporting standards.

Why Burroughs Still Matters — More Than Memoirs

Augusten Burroughs’s significance lies not only in what he survived, but in what he built afterward. His stories didn’t just recount trauma — they reclaimed agency. By laying his life bare on the page, he offered a kind of solace and solidarity to readers who’ve endured their own hardships.

He stands as a prominent voice among LGBTQ+ authors, and his journey underscores the power of vulnerability in storytelling. Whether through literature, art, gemology, or entrepreneurship, Burroughs continues to evolve — refusing to be confined by labels or past mistakes.

In the end, his story is a testament to the idea that personal history, no matter how fraught, need not define the rest of one’s life. Instead, it can become the foundation for reinvention, creativity, and authenticity.