• Depression
• Adultery
• AIDS
• Cancer
• Suicide
• Thalidomide caused birth-defects
• Dodgy Prescription Drugs
• Questionable Import/Export Trade

To name just some of the plot devices in this book! So I’ll just go with the publishers blurb on this one!

On the eve of the next Space Shuttle mission, a divided family comes together.

In a cheap motel an hour from Cape Canaveral, Janet Drummond takes her medication, and does a rapid tally of the whereabouts of her children. Wade has spent the night in jail; suicidal Bryan is due to arrive at any moment with his vowel-free girlfriend, Shw; and then there is Sarah, ‘a bolt of lightning frozen in midflash’ — here in Orlando to be the star of Friday’s shuttle mission.

With Janet’s ex-husband and his trophy wife also in town, Janet spends a moment contemplating her family, and where it all went wrong. Or did it?

“All families are psychotic. Everybody has basically the same family – it’s just reconfigured slightly different from one to the next.” – Douglas Coupland.

Like last time, I’m going to start with a few brief thoughts on the book and then I’ll answer Kelly’s questions. When you’re done be sure to head on over to The Written Word to hear Kelly’s answers to my questions!

All Families are Psychotic is an utterly manic and over-the-top adventure, which somehow manages to be a gentle relaxing read… It’s not perfect by any means, and I can’t say I’d want to read it again, but it was very readable, and Coupland is fast becoming a favourite author.

On to the inquisition!

Will I read more of his work based on this book? No. But that’s not a criticism, as I’m already a big enough fan to want to read everything he has written! As for where it falls in what I’ve read so far… I’ll be honest it’s my least favourite one so far. I think that is down to the fact, that whilst the plot is zany and frenetic and totally over-the-top. It does slip into being to over-the-top on occasion.

You know what, I thought and thought about this and no single scene stands out in my mind that made me go “Wow!” I think some of that might just be down to the way Coupland just keeps on building improbable twists, after improbable events after… well you get the idea! Long after most authors would admit defeat. This is of course intentional, and part of the reason you keep reading, just to see what he does next.

Actually no, I’ve just remembered a scene I enjoyed, partly because it’s a fun scene and we get a good insight into Wade’s character. It’s a bit long to quote though, so I’ll briefly describe it.

It’s one of the flashbacks: Where the young Wade is helping Susan with a science project and the end up releasing a mini home-made hot air balloon, which then floats up into the woods. And Wade then tries to shoulder the blame.

Wade is probably my favourite character, partly because he is the one we get to spend the most time with, also because despite everything that he has had to go through and a questionable attitude to the law, he remains a pretty decent guy.

Florian is also a fun guy to meet in the book!

Least favourite would be Shw. I almost went for Ted, because as a father and a human he’s pretty crap, but lets face it Shw is only ever out for Shw.

My answer to this one, relates to the my answer to your first question, for the most part I think he does pull it off successfully. The farcical plot builds nicely on each improbable situation after the other, and you do want to keep reading  just to see what he tries to pull off next.

Once or twice though, he attempts to do one thing to many, and the improbable becomes implausible. Not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book, but it was enough to stop it becoming a favourite.

Don’t forget to head on over to The Written Word to hear Kelly’s answers to my questions!

Written in the second person, our swimmer remains unnamed, as we follow her from her discovery of her affinity with water, through to eventual oblivion.

We commiserate with her as she misses out on international gold, beaten by drug cheats and celebrate with her when she wins Gold at the Commonwealth Games

When a mere few months later she finds her career is over, she moves in to media work as a sorta b-list celeb, again those around her continues to exploit her, and as she slips further in to obscurity. The book takes on a feel of desperate loneliness and sadness.

There’s no doubt that this is a glum tale, even at the height of her success winning that Commonwealth Gold, she is just a pawn to be exploited by others, but it is so beautifully told it hardly matters, you can you can almost smell the chlorine at times.

You’ll be moved, saddened and angered at times by this powerful tale of great sporting achievement and the contrasting exploitation the main character suffers at the hands of those around her.

Buy: Swimmer by Bill Broady from The Book Depository.

One of the things I’ve already learned about his writing, is that the story he telling you, isn’t necessarily the one you think you are reading. It’s only when you’ve finished the book (and sometimes even later than that) can you see the bigger story. I’m not saying he relies on tricks and twists – although you do get them – but they are so well constructed, understanding can only come with the last page.

This one is no different. The book opens Jared a ghost, and a friend of the main characters who a year previously died of leukemia. Soon after, we meet Karen, the titular girlfriend and her boyfriend Richard. in December 1979 they have sex for the first-time, before moving on to a party, where Karen collapses and falls into a coma. A coma she spends the next 17 years in.

What happens next? Well that would be telling! And it’s really best that you discover everything for yourself. But we can talk about the books themes – just not how we explore them! . Losing two close friends in such close succession, affect the friends for the most of the next two decades. Drifting into alienation, incapable of connecting in any meaningful way with the world and those around them.

While I don’t think it gels quite as well as it could do, but that might be more to do with me leaving the book at work over Christmas, therefore splitting my reading of it. I can’t say enough about just how good the prose is, brilliant imagery, and profound language fill the pages.

Hamilton and I were the ones without goals. “Imagine you’re a forty-year-old, Richard,” Hamilton said to me around this time, while working as a salesman at a Radio Shack in Lynn Valley, “and suddenly somebody comes up to you saying, ‘Hi, I’d like you to meet Kevin. Kevin is eighteen and will be making all of your career decisions for you.’ I’d be flipped out. Wouldn’t you? But that’s what life is all about – some eighteen-year-old kid making your big decisions for you that stick for a lifetime.” He shuddered.

At what point in our lives do we stop blurring? When do we become crisp individuals? What must we do in order to end these fuzzy identities – to clarify just who it is we really are?

If you’re not spending every waking moment of your life radically rethinking the nature of the world – if you’re not plotting every moment boiling the carcass of the old order – then you’re wasting your day.

On my experiences with this one and Hey Nostradamus! I can’t wait to read my next one. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait too long, as I am doing a buddy read/review with Kailana at the end of the month, when we are reading, All Families are Psychotic.

Other Reviews to Consider

• Lost in a Good Story
• Things Mean a Lot

One last thing, once you’ve read the book, it’s well worth your time flipping back the start and reading the chapter titles in order. Doesn’t really make a sentence or anything, but it’s quite powerful in it’s own way.

Buy: Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland from The Book Depository.