American writer Augusten Burroughs was BOTD in 1965. Born Christopher Robison in Pittsburgh, he had a turbulent childhood, moving between various homes until his parents divorced when he was 12. His mother then sent him to live with her psychiatrist Dr Rodolph Turcotte in a ramshackle property in Northampton, where he was allowed to drop out of school, experiment with drugs and was raped by Turcotte’s 33 year-old adopted son. Robison left the Turcottes at 17, changing his name to Augusten Burroughs and worked in advertising in New York City. After seeking treatment for alcoholism, he published Running With Scissors in 2002, a memoir based on his life with the Turcottes. An international bestseller, the book rocketed him to fame, but prompted the Turcottes to sue him and his publishers for defamation and breach of privacy. A somewhat sanitised film version followed in 2005, starring Joseph Cross as Burroughs and Annette Bening as his mother. Burroughs’ follow-up book, the 2003 memoir Dry, recounted his battle with alcoholism. He has since published two essay collections, the novel Sellevision and a collection of short stories. His memoirs Lust and Wonder and Toil and Trouble chronicle his coming out as a male witch and marrying his literary agent Christopher Schelling.