Rather ridiculously over the top (and not in a good way).

First you need get past that there is no actual psychosis in this story. Dysfunctional family-check, physical ailments-check, poor choices-check, psychoses--nope. That's not a diss, that is just setting the record straight. At first I thought it was doing to be one of those Hiaasen-style wacky hijinks stories and was relieved it wasn't just that. I can't really pin this story down and I'm not even sure if I really liked it or not. The plot was a bit slippery for me... DNA altering via blood bonding? Wait... what? It was fun and had some unexpected twists and turns. It definitely kept me entertained.

I fell in love with Coupland's writing with Shampoo Planet. It was almost 3 years ago and since then, I've only read Eleanor Rigby, which I loved as well.
So it was time for another Coupland and I'm a bit confused on this one; while I did enjoy his writing once again, the plot was a bit weird. I felt completely lost at times during dialogues; two characters would be talking and it just felt like they weren't communicating and it was two different conversations I was trying to follow.
It wasn't a bad book, and I truly appreciate this author; it just wasn't his best for me.
But what a messed-up family though.

A book with the title 'All families are psychotic', but without a question mark! Soooooooo the family in this book are pretty much, well, psychotic, with the sole island of rationality being 65 year old mother Janet Drummond. Her daughter, Sarah Drummond is about to become the first disabled astronaut in space, but the story we get to read is of the high jinks and shenanigans that her parents and siblings get up to when the family is brought together to support Sarah's great adventure in her last few weeks of training!

Although an alright read, I found it nowhere near as funny as critics and some readers claimed, but saying that, I must admit I am a tough audience when it comes to the interpretation of humour. A few of the characters have Attitude with a capital A - I really liked the portrayal of the 'older' parent characters, done without any age-based stereotyping. Although I consider Coupland a great Canadian writer that everyone should read, this is very far from one of his best. 3 out of 12

2018 read

I really only half read this book. I had to give up when I realised that every time I sat down to read it, I couldn't remember what had happened in the part I'd read before. The story didn't leave any impression on me at all.

I read Generation X 30 years ago and forgot how good he is. This was ridiculous and very entertaining.

Okay, so I didn't really know what I was getting when I picked up this book but this was a pretty crappy read. The writing was crap and the black humour did not work. I can only describe it as a really awful Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas tale without all the fun trippy shit.

Every review talks about how this book hits home and makes you want to hug your dysfunctional family and never let go and I just... did not find that message at all... it was just boring and depressing. I don't know why you would want write a book like this, I've read more morbid books but I just didn't particularly get the point in this one, to be honest.

My motivation was to keep reading in the hope for a heartfelt or climatic moment came to tie it all together but that didn't happen. I didn't particularly want to carry on reading this book because I didn't care for it but it wasn't particularly complex so I just endured it.

I do not recommend this unless you like boring books about horrible people who are either dying or pregnant.

J'ai fini ce livre il y a un mois environ, et je n'en ai déjà qu'un vague souvenir. J'ai dû même me replonger dans le pitch pour me rappeler de l'histoire. Oups. Pas bon signe, ça. Je lui mets tout de même 3 étoiles, parce qu'en me rappelant l'histoire, je me suis aussi rappelé que je n'avais pas du tout passé un mauvais moment, au contraire. Ça part dans tous les sens, c'est un peu n'importe quoi, drôle mais pas non plus à se bidonner, les personnages sont improbables, l'histoire à l'avenant. Bref, un florilège de choses qui rend ce livre agréable à lire mais parfaitement oubliable également.

edit: ah, et j'allais oublier: la traduction est pas top. Traduire "HIV" par "HIV"? Le VIH c'est bien aussi, non? Ce petit point n'a fait que confirmer une vague impression que j'avais depuis le début, avec notamment des phrases qui ressemblaient furieusement à des expressions idiomatiques traduites littéralement. Le genre de truc qui m'agace.

when i start reading a book i dont like, or finish one for that matter, i generally turn to a douglas coupland novel to remind me why i like reading so much. and this one did not disappoint.

his novels, the more i read, become more formulaic, which could be a huge turnoff becasue it is like reading the same novel over and over again with just different character names. but the thing is, i absolutely love his formula. it is there, it exists, but it is so off-the-wall unpredictable that i am amazed.

i recently read "running with scissors" by augesten burroughs and noted that i wouldve liked his memoir more if were a novel. this book kind of reminded me of that, except things in a douglas coupland novel are strange in an endearing sort of way and the burroughs stuff was creepy/sad strange.

the only thing about this novel is then end wasnt all that. when the story has so many arcs and twists, so many odd things going on it is sometimes very hard to wrap it all up neatly (if thats your thing) or find a way to end it that is satisfying. i would have enjoyed three more chapters of the family fallout and regrouping after the launch sequence.

if you have never read a coupland novel i would recommend this one or "eleanor rigby" as a starting point.

The main protagonist is a 65 year old woman struggling with physical illness and the addictions and mental illness of her family. This is a black comedy and I'd love to see it as a movie! It starts off fairly believable and the plot becomes more ridiculous as it goes on - and yet the underlying truth regarding the disappointments, hopes and expectations for our relationships is solid. It is a funny, tender, action packed adventure. Some of the dialogue is absolute gold. I imagine that if it were a movie it would be shot in the same way as 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and the leading lady would be Susan Sarandon. Here's hoping!

Promising title but, as much as I tried, it wasn't possible to get 1/8 of the way through this boring book.

Coupland's understanding and illustration of the human condition shine once again.