From the Bookshelf of Animal Book Club…

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Karen Joy Fowler

Discussion: Animal Suspense Fiction

Why we're reading this: This book is outstanding. I can't wait for everyone in the Animal Book Club to read and discuss!…more
[close] This book is outstanding. I can't wait for everyone in the Animal Book Club to read and discuss!

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Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4 comments total

Animal Suspense Fiction

Mystery esp. for dog & cat lovers - 3 book giveaway
By Diane · 1 post · 11 views

last updated Aug 20, 2017 12:12PM

YA thriller WANTED about Bandit, a genius dog who has escaped from a sinister lab
By Jo · 3 posts · 8 views

last updated Nov 29, 2016 11:07AM

What Members Thought

Mar 23, 2017 Colleen rated it it was amazing

If we only knew. And yet we do. This story in less capable hands would have been schmaltzy and sloppy and would have brought indignities upon human and nonhuman animal. In Fowler's hands, it was sublime. And now that you know, what will you do? ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2016 Peacegal rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-discussion-group

I was quite stunned by this book. The subject matter--the series of experiments in which chimps were raised in human homes like children--is ripe to stoke the creative juices and has been explored in a variety of both fiction and nonfiction books and films.

However, this very mainstream book takes things a step further, and actually inserts discussion of the ethical dilemmas surrounding the wider world of human relations to animals--something which I'm quite used to reading and seeing in my pers ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2013 Shel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-myforties, read-this-for-all, to-reread

Exquisite. Immediately after finishing this, it went on my to-reread list.

It's the first person story of Rosemary who is examining the events of her childhood and her memories of it. Rosemary's quirks are that she uses big words and while she is naturally talkative, has been silenced. There are good reasons for these traits and they are used to good effect. I loved the vocabulary of this novel (eliding, Melpomene, gamesome, psychomanteum, hypnopompic) and that it's filled with memorable, beauti ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing

I am so glad I didn't give up on this book (well I kind of did, but then a friend talked me into picking it back up). This is a simple, straight-forward story that makes you think about what we so often take for granted - what is family, what does it mean to be human, on what basis do we rely to treat other animals the way we do? It takes awhile for this book to gather steam, but once it does, you'll find it difficult to put down. Not necessarily because you can't wait to find out what happens n ...more

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Feb 02, 2014 Midge rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. It's brilliant - not only as a novel but as one that raises very important questions about how we view and treat animals.

Check out Shel Graves' review on EcoLit Books: http://www.ecolitbooks.com/2013/08/bo...
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 30, 2015 Bobby rated it it was amazing

Where to start with this novel? From the beginning it is very human, in the best way possible. Then it turns its attention to our fellow animals, one in particular. It is well written and engaging. Our narrator is someone we trust immediately and that trust is not broken throughout. Once she introduces her family to us - all of the immediate family - she begins to expand our circle of compassion. By the end of the book I'd guess that many readers will find that their circle of compassion has bro ...more

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Aug 04, 2014 Alex Linschoten rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Imagine a cross between J.M. Coetzee, Barbara Kingsolver and A.M. Homes. That's sort of what this book is, but to try to pre-introduce you to things would be a disservice. Ignore the reviews/comments/synopses of this book. Just go read it. It's fantastic. ...more

1 like · Like · see review