We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

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Average customer rating 4.8 (6 comments)

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Rosemary Cooke was raised with a father that was a psychology professor at Indiana University and who studied primates. When she was born, her parents acquired a chimpanzee, Fern, nearly the same age. They were raised together as sisters until Rosemary was five when suddenly Fern was removed from the family. Her mother falls into a deep depression. At that same time, her teenage brother, Lowell, leaves home and never returns. Rosemary, who had always been a non-stop talker, suddenly stopped talking. After a friendless childhood, when she finally leaves for college, the issues of her brother and Fern resurface. She goes to college in Davis, California, the last place her brother was seen. He is now wanted by the FBI. She longs to see her brother again and find out if he knows what happened to Fern after she was forced from their family. This novel explores the lines between human and animal, and what it means to be a family. The author includes bits of the history of primate study within human families. The story is told in a nonlinear fashion. Rosemary's memories are sometimes clouded by the fact that she was so very young when Fern lived with the family. At times, the story is heartbreaking, at other times humorous. It is clear, however, that this brief experiment caused overwhelming grief for all members of the Cooke family, grief that would take a lifetime to heal, if ever.

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It’s hard to talk about this novel without giving too much away since a major piece of information is held back in the first part of the story. It does start in the middle, since Rosemary, a 22-year-old young woman, was told by her parents when she was younger to skip the beginning and start in the middle. She used to talk non-stop, until her sister, that she was so close to she considered her a twin sister, left. Not too long after that, her brother left. She hasn’t seen either one in many years. Around that time, she also quit talking so much because it was easier to get through life when people did not know much about her and couldn’t judge her. I had to keep reading to find what had happened to her sister and brother. I also had to know why she quit talking so much. I enjoyed this book very much. It could be said that Rosemary is an unreliable narrator because she would explain what happened to her as a child, she wasn’t sure if it really happened how she remembered it or if she had filled in some gaps over the years with what she thought happened. I did not mind this because that is what memory is like. Is what you remember now, really how it happened? How can two or three people that were present remember what happened in different ways? It isn’t only perceptions that are different, but what we choose to remember and what we forget over the years and end up making up parts of the story to fill in those memory gaps. I also really enjoyed that the narrator was in college in the early to mid-1990s, which is when I was in college so it was fun to read all the cultural references. It put me back into the headspace I was in when I was that age and then as the story moves along to current times to see how she matures and reaches the same age as I am while reading it. It isn’t often that happens while reading a book so it was a nice touch. I do recommend that if you want to read this book then try not to read the back of the book flap like I did. It does give away some information about Rosemary’s sister. There is still much that is learned while reading it like why her sister went away and where she went, but I think it would be fun to actually learn the surprise in the second act of the book. The way the book ends is heartbreaking. It is a really good ending. Many questions are answered and people are healed from anger they have felt over the years when they finally start talking to each other again. It ends on the only realistic note it could, but it is still quite sad.

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I want to stand and applaud Karen Joy Fowler for this outstanding book, WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSESLVES. If you love animals, you want to read this. Or if you appreciate great writing and observations about the human condition, with psychological analysis throughout, you want to read this. How to review this book without spoiling the first quarter of it? All other reviews that I read give it away, and I wished as I read it that I didn't already know but could have discovered or guessed it as the author intended. So I'm not going to say. But I urge you to avoid other reviews, even the book flap, and to pay close attention whenever the sister is mentioned. This story is narrated by Rosemary as an adult, telling of growing up with her parents, brother, Lowell, and her sister, Fern. What an extraordinary life they lead! While this is not a book of humor, Rosemary's (Fowler's) descriptions are told with wit and intelligence. You'll enjoy every bit of this, and it might make you cry.

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I saw this was on sale and almost bought it AGAIN. I can't stop talking about it. My classmates probably hate me. But it's by far the best book I've read in at least the last year. Get it! Get it now!

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A good, smart book that's about more than experimenting with animals. There's great humor here along with some haunting scenes. Great character development. What appears to be just another quirky family comes to life in this novel, revealing some intriguing complexities.

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"We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" is complicated, smart and compelling. Its timeline is all mashed up, but the author does so with purpose rather than with irritating flourish. I don't want to say too much about the plot for fear of giving away a key revelation about the book. I will say that if you're interested in scientific research, particularly in psychology, this novel will have added appeal. Note to readers who are looking at this book because they've read Karen Joy Fowler's "Jane Austen Book Club:" This novel operates at another level entirely. It's far more challenging and deep. I enjoyed the earlier book as a fine bit of chick lit, pretty good but by no means life-changing. This book is real literature.