Conclusion

Abstract

On February 1, 2009, Augusten Burroughs wrote an almost 3,000-word response to fans on his “Q&A” discussion space on the social networking site Facebook. A self-confessed “early adopter,” Burroughs positions himself throughout his memoirs as technologically savvy and compulsive: “I had a laptop computer in 1984, when they were rare and the size of briefcases. I also had a cell phone that was larger than a loaf of bread. So new technologies have never frightened me” (Magical Thinking 144). Burroughs’ relationship to technologies serves him well in an age that is increasingly digitized and hyper-serial. The response begins as Burroughs responds to the individual questions fans posed to him, working as a talk show host might. “Christine asks,” he begins, and then answers her question. Concluding his response, he writes:

Okay, that’s all I have time for tonight. I’m about to get clobbered by [my partner] Dennis if I keep him awake anymore with my typing. I have to move on to quieter things. But I really want to thank all of you for your questions. And I am sorry I didn’t get to answer everybody… I had to write a book, though. And I had another project that I had to work on something I can’t quite discuss yet but which is very exciting. Then, of course, there was vacation. Dennis made me.