Crown agreed to pay $1.1 million for the memoir, according to an executive with knowledge of the deal. The book describes some of the traumas Mr. Robison shared with his brother, who wrote in detail about their difficult and unconventional early life in his 2002 bestseller Running with Scissors. That book was recently made into a movie.

Running with Scissors is also the subject of a lawsuit brought by some of the people portrayed in the book, who maintain that much of it wasn't true. Mr. Robinson's memoir also chronicles the author's experience with a mild form of autism, and how his expertise with electronics led to adventures as a sound man for the rock band Kiss and to professional success running a car dealership. "It's a very inspirational story," says an editor who saw the manuscript.