Tonight, at 7pm at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, "memoirist" Augusten Burroughs will read from his latest book, A Wolf at the Table, about his childhood relationship with his father, not-so-affectionately referred to not as "Dad," but "Dead."

It's Burroughs' first manuscript in five years. Perhaps he was waiting out the James Frey-fueled witchunt for authors who try to pass off fables as actual parts of their lives. Perhaps he wanted to lay low after settling the 2005 lawsuit filed by family members who claimed they were inaccurately portrayed. Why don't you ask him tonight?

Or maybe you could check whether any of Wolf's tales are true, like whether his father actually let little Auggie's guinea pig starve to death, or whether Dead chased him through the forest like he was a werewolf. And did his father's severe psoriasis actually bloody his shirts? Was Dead's arthritis so bad he couldn't play catch?

All entirely plausible scenarios. But now, we're going to question every single one of them.