We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves A Novel

Praise for We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

"A novel so readably juicy and surreptitiously smart, it deserves all the attention it can get...[Its] fresh diction and madcap plot bend the tone toward comedy, but it never mislays its solemn raison d'être. Monkeyshines aside, this is a story of Everyfamily in which loss engraves relationships, truth is a soulful stalker and coming-of-age means facing down the mirror, recognizing the shape-shifting notion of self."-Barbara Kingsolver, The New York Times Book Review

"Fowler's interests here are in what sets humans apart from their fellow primates. Cognitive, language and memory skills all come into playful question. But the heart of the novel-and it has a big, warm, loudly beating heart throughout-is in its gradually pieced-together tale of family togetherness, disruption and reconciliation. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is Fowler at her best, mixing cerebral and emotional appeal together in an utterly captivating manner."-The Seattle Times

"Elegantly and humorously orchestrated...Knitting together Rosemary's at times poignant, at times hilarious scraps of uncovered memories, Fowler creates a fantastical tale of raw, animalistic love."-O, The Oprah Magazine

"[The novel] lies somewhere between psychological thriller, scientific theory and coming-of-age story, a seemingly untenable combination. But Fowler, through wit and mastery of her craft, handles the complexity effortlessly."-USA Today

"This brave, bold, shattering novel reminds us what it means to be human, in the best and worst sense."-The Miami Herald

"Rosemary's voice-vulnerable, angry, shockingly honest-is so compelling and the cast of characters, including Fern, irresistible. A fantastic novel: technically and intellectually complex, while emotionally gripping."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Piquant humor, refulgent language, a canny plot rooted in real-life experiences, an irresistible narrator, threshing insights, and tender emotions-Fowler has outdone herself in this deeply inquisitive, cage-rattling novel."-Booklist (starred review)

"A strong, unsettling novel...Fowler explores the depths of human emotions and delivers a tragic love story that captures our hearts."-Library Journal (starred review)

"Rosemary's experience [is] a fascinating basis for insight into memory, the mind, and human development."-Publishers Weekly

"In this curious, wonderfully intelligent novel, Karen Joy Fowler brings to life a most unusual family. Wonderful Fern, wonderful Rosemary! Through them we feel what it means to be a human animal."-Andrea Barrett, author of Servants of the Map and Ship Fever

"Karen Joy Fowler has written the book she's always had in her to write. With all the quiet strangeness of her amazing Sarah Canary, and all the breezy wit and skill of her beloved Jane Austen Book Club, and a new, urgent gravity, she has told the story of an American family. An unusual family-but aren't all families unusual? A very American, an only-in-America family-and yet an everywhere family, whose children, parents, siblings, love one another very much, and damage one another badly. Does the love survive the damage? Will human beings survive the damage they do to the world they love so much? This is a strong, deep, sweet novel."-Ursula K. Le Guin, author of Lavinia, The Unreal and the Real, and the Earthsea Cycle

"We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a dark cautionary tale hanging out, incognito-style, in what at first seems a traditional family narrative. It is anything but. This novel is deliciously jaunty in tone and disturbing in material. Karen Joy Fowler tells the story of how one animal-the animal of man-can simultaneously destroy and expand our notion of what is possible."-Alice Sebold, New York Times-bestselling author of The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon

"You know how people say something is incredible or unbelievable when they mean it's excellent? Well, Karen Joy Fowle