We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

4.5 Stars

 

“In everyone’s life there are people who stay and people who go and people who are taken away against their will.”

This is the story of three siblings: Rosemary (who stayed), Lowell (who went), and Fern (who was taken away).

The only reason I even gave this book a chance was because some of my Goodreads friends were reading it and giving it many stars. I mean, the other book I recognized as being written by the author was The Jane Austen Book Club, the title of which alone makes me think I’d choose to take a hot poker to the eye rather than read. It probably goes without saying that upon the start I was prepared for a 2-Star quality selection at best.

Holy crap was I wrong. Sadly, this is one of those books where I really can’t say anything without potentially giving everything away, so you’ll just have to trust me when I say was this close to being rated 5 Stars by me (it loses half a point only for occasionally taking itself a little too serious with the scientific mumbo-jumbo which caused my attention to wane).

I love reading a book that makes me ask: “How in the heck did someone come up with this premise????" Not only does this book do that, but it does it with impeccable timing, an effortless flow between the past and the present, and a narrator with a dry humored delivery that made her so believable. Oh, and dare I forget to mention – I found myself getting a little choked up more than once. Me, the woman with no heart. Imagine what it might do to all of you who aren’t emotionally unavailable . . .



I feel confident in saying that this will go down as one of the best books I read in 2014 and I hope to always remember that “in the phrase human being, the word being is much more important than the word human.


(you’ll have to read the book to figure out the significance of the poker chip)