Inspired by how much I liked the previous Coupland book I just finished reading, I decided to try this one. I am equally impressed. In both books, Coupland has created these oddball situations that happen to characters that seem very real. Both books make you think about things other than the events currently unfolding on the pages in front of you. Why haven’t I heard of this author before?

This book is, on the surface, about a massacre at a high school. Three teens go into the school cafeteria one day, and proceed to blow away several of their classmates. This was something I had actual nightmares about after hearing about Columbine, and during the years I used to be a Substitute Teacher. It’s what made me initially interested in reading this book. It’s not at all a book “for the holidays”, however. Its a horrible mess, graphically described through the book from the viewpoint of more than one character.

The first chapter is from inside the head of a girl that died in that massacre. The second one if from her young husband, who is also a student in the school. (How that happened is not how you might expect), but about 10 years later. The third chapter is from a woman who meets him years later, and the last if from his father, who is basically a jerk.

Throughout it the book, each character is trying to come to terms with God and the Afterlife. It starts with the teens, who were involved in Christian youth groups, (with kids that acted something other than Christian), but all the characters are asking questions. Why does God let bad things happen? Is it some sort of test, or is it not even under His control? What sort of God would let something like a school shooting happen? Is there a God at all? Is there an Afterlife, and if so, what is it like? What does God think about people who abuse others claiming that God wanted things that way, or that their religion is the reason the abuse was necessary? The best part of the book is that Coupland does not answer any of these questions for you, or point you in a specific direction. It’s a book that makes you think.

The title alone makes this book just scream to be read right before the holidays. The holiday season is stressful enough on its own, what with all the shopping to be done, and the malls packed with people. Add in spending more time with your family than you really would like, especially if your family is dysfunctional, (like mine), and you end up being able to relate to this book’s title very much.

This book is about a dysfunctional family, (but not around the holidays). Janet is a 60 something housewife, who recently got divorced from Ted, her husband of several years. Ted has remairried a younger “trophy wife”, named Nikkie. Ted and Janet have three children, all of whom are adults now, and all of whom have problems. Wade is the one always in trouble. Sarah is the perfect daughter who is now an astronaut about to take off on the next shuttle. It is this event that the family has gotten together for. Bryan is the youngest kid, now in his 40s, and he is the one who is always trying to kill himself.

The book goes back and forth between the present and the past, putting together little memories like puzzle pieces that make up the picture of this family. Its one of those books where it seems like every other page reveals an amazingly bad event. An event that the reader never sees coming, which makes it even more exciting. I couldn’t put this book down. And, along the way, are little insights about life, peppering the pages. The title is an example of that. One character in the book says something like “all families are psychotic”, and points out that the problems in other people’s families are something you can always overlook, its the problems in your own that are unforgivable.

In many ways, this book is about falling apart as much as it is about starting over. This one’s a keeper.
(more…)