Running with Scissors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Childhood is Gone, What Remains

Deirdre Burroughs is Augusten's mother. She thinks she's a famous poet, and is obsessed with making people see "her talent". In reality, Deirdre is rejected from many newspapers and literary magazines. All the same, she leads a poetry club of neighborhood women.

She says the title of this poem right before she actually reads it. "Childhood is Gone, What Remains. Childhood is gone, and youth, and ties with people I once loved are broken now..." Deirdre is standing at a microphone, dropping pages of stationery onto the ground as she reads this poem to Augusten. During this, Augusten is eating cereal and listening attentively.

Answer: He has a headache

Augusten never once uses the simple, believable excuse of "I have a headache." Instead, his mother calls the school and tells them that she is keeping him home because he overconditioned his hair, and because she needs assistance with the dinner party. Augusten skips school often and eventually drops out.

Answer: Cream

Cream only plays a big part in one scene in the movie. Deirdre has just stormed out, accusing her husband of trying to sabotage her reading, and Augusten's father suggests Augusten go play in the yard with Cream. Augusten replies with, "I don't wanna play with Cream. All she ever does is sleep.

She's an old lady." Cream, the Burroughs' large, fuzzy, white pet, is covered in aluminum foil Augusten has wrapped around various parts of her body.

Answer: "I like shiny things."

Norman Burroughs simply tells Augusten, "I don't understand" while they're sitting at the dining room table, as Augusten polishes a quarter. Augusten replies with, "I like shiny things". Norman sighs, confiding that he cannot see himself in his son at all. Augusten then says, "I'm more like my mom. I wanna be special and I wanna be famous."

Answer: Valium

After having a conversation about whether Deirdre is "constipated" in her life, the doctor and Deirdre are talking about her writing and sex with her husband Norman. Deirdre reveals that she has suicidal thoughts after sex with Norman. The doctor then reaches over the table to hand her a Valium.

Answer: Freud

Hope is standing at the stove, offering a spoonful of her stew to Natalie when Natalie asks what the special ingredient is. Hope replies, stonefaced, "Freud". Bookman says, "Freud's dead, Hope. We buried her." That's when Hope says Freud had once again spoken to her, this time saying she wanted to be dug up and reincarnated as a stew. Bookman, Augusten, and Natalie all storm out, disgusted by Hope. Hope, nearly in tears, says she was just kidding, and then says sadly to herself, "Ha, ha, ha ha ha ha, I got some of my anger out."

Answer: A large pink house with a ridiculously messy yard

When Deirdre and Augusten drive through the residential area in which Dr. Finch lives, the two are impressed by all the large, gorgeous houses. Augusten remarks that maybe he should be a doctor. When the two pull up at Dr. Finch's home, it is completely out of place, bright pink, with a trashed yard. It looks like it's straight out of a children's book!

Answer: She eats kibble.

Upon arriving at the Finch house for the first time, Augusten is left alone downstairs while Deirdre goes upstairs for a session with Dr. Finch. Augusten and Agnes are sitting on the couch together, watching an old horror film. Augusten refuses the kibble Agnes offers him, saying, "That stuff's not clean.

It's for dogs." Agnes had previously stated, "I don't know why everyone makes such a fuss. It's only a little kibble." Agnes does indeed make Hamburger Helper for Augusten later in the movie. Her house is trashed, and she only has one cat, Freud.

Answer: He was forced to downsize because of the energy crisis.

While Augusten and Natalie are in Natalie's room, on Augusten's first visit to the Finch home, Augusten asks Natalie (while she is putting together the electroshock therapy machine) why her father moved the practice into his home. Natalie replies by saying the energy crisis took away "benefits like mental health".

It turns out, this crisis has caused Finch to lose too much money. Not only did he have to downsize to his home, but the IRS are later shown warning Finch that they will have to take the house if he cannot pay them. Hope then makes the statement, "Daddy's like a great ocean liner. If he goes down, he's taking a lot of people with him."

Answer: Freud was dying.

Hope claims Freud told her during REM sleep that she was dying, and asked Hope to sit with her so she wouldn't die alone. Hope then puts Freud underneath a laundry basket for four days, resulting in Freud's death. Augusten's narration then says, "According to Hope, Freud died from Kitty Leukemia. According to me, Freud died of being trapped under a laundry basket for four days without food or water."