This was a really quirky, yet thought provoking book. This book followed the story of one of the most dysfunctional families I have ever read about. I found myself often laughing at the absurdness of the situations they got themselves into, despite the seriousness of the story.

I realize that Wade, one of the main characters, was probably supposed to be an anti-hero and disliked, but I loved him. He was my favourite part of the book. I loved his protectiveness of his sister.

It's really hard to review this book without giving away too much so instead I will just write about how the book affected me. While on the surface it looks like a light read, full of misadventure and comedy, the book is so much more. Douglas Coupland can make me feel his characters like no other writer. After reading one of his books, I am often left frazzled for days, constantly replaying the book in my head and feeling all over again. His books stay with me!

I love this book not because of the great writing (which it has), or the humour (which it has in spades), or because of the well drawn characters (as vivid as any I've met). No, I love this book because for one brief and shining number of pages, it made my family appear normal. Which it most certainly isn't. Because it's true. All Families Are Psychotic!

Try as I did, I just couldn't get into this book. I've been a fan of Douglas Coupland since Generation X came out, so in some strange way, I feel bad not finishing this book. His other books have been pretty solid, though. "All Families", however, was a big disappointment for me. It has been awhile since I've read his work. Am I getting to old to enjoy sardonic, at times slapstick and dark humor? yeah,I don't think so. It's not me, it's him.

It felt as though I was reading a book rather than being immersed in the lives of the characters.

I made it to page 119 before shelving it.

Absolute zany mayhem! I wondered to start with if it was for me... then revelation after revelation. Jaw drop after jaw drop. Crazy family member after... you get the idea.

I thought MY family was nuts. They just don't measure up to the Drummonds. While their daughter Sarah (a thalidomide baby) prepares for her first space mission, her family all gather in Florida, ostensibly to watch her take-off, but other plots take them in strange and hilarious new directions.

To reveal much about the plot would really be to spoil it. I'm glad I came to this knowing nothing at all about it. I will say that Sarah's brothers - recently-jailed Wade and Brian (and his vowel-less girlfriend Shw), her dad (and trophy wife) and mum - all take on a role in the completely crazy family story.

This just kept piling on the madness, I acutally laughed out loud at some twists and turns. This would make a wonderfully crazy film, with some juicy little character roles.

I liked the structure, though it took a little getting used to. We follow the present timeline and then suddenly are taken back in time to the Drummonds' earlier lives (both the three children's childhood and that of their parents'). A little confusing at first, but it did fall into place.

I really, really recommend this if you like dark humour, lots of craziness, funny family stories and a nice surprise. Enjoy!

This is a good book.

I'm going to say something weird, it's really similar to the history of love by nichole krauss, but better. I know right? I probably never would have thought of it if I wasn't reading/listening to them at the same time.

But this book is also a bit like jackass goes to the prom. Or richie rich takes a slum day.

The quotes on the back say things like: "douglas coupland all growed up"

this book is not all growed up, in fact it's a fairly juvenile book. But lets actually be straight up and honest here, that's what we like about guys like Coupland and cooper that they are juvenile's. No one picks up a bret easton ellis book and thinks now we are going to have some serious adult entertainment. at least no one who knows anything about ellis. Well this is the same.

It's kind of VERY VERY much Harold and Kumar go to NASA. or zach galifrinakas and the other guy from the hangover go to NASA.

It's like those new comedies that are written by the guys who are actually the funny people not some writers in a room somewhere who think carrot top would be great for this part.

Am I making any sense? No? oh well?

based off the rating you would think i hate this book but i actually binge read it at the library within two days and i could not put it down. that does not stop it from being a mess, of course, but it's good brain melting fun!

I normally tear through Douglas Coupland novels like a bag of junk food but this one took some perseverance. I've come to expect a certain pang of depression and hopelessness from his novels, but it's usually coated in so much angst, irony, cultural criticism and irreverent humour that I end up feeling better after reading one of his books, or at least less alone.

His earlier books like Generation X, Shampoo Planet or Life After God all seem to follow characters trying to make sense of the crazy new world they live in, and their titles reflect this. Though there were a few 21st century parables that are such a signature of the Coupland style (the one about the most lottery tickets being sold the day after the jackpot being the most memorable for me), this book seems more introspective than the others. I think Coupland has an incredible talent for zeroing in on the zeitgeist of a generation or a moment in time, but this book is really about a family.

All Families Are Psychotic felt to me as far from Generation X as Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night did from This Side of Paradise. From what I've been told, it's something you appreciate with age.

As this book opens, Janet Drummond checks into a seedy motel where she's come to stay because her astronaut daughter Sarah is about to go into space. Sarah may have it together, but her brothers aren't so lucky: Wade is only just pulling himself together after a lifetime of screwing up, and Bryan struggles with depression. Janet's ex-husband Ted and his trophy wife Nickie are there too, as is Bryan's girlfriend Shw (no vowels) who is pregnant. Due to a random twist of fate and gunshots, Wade and Janet both have AIDS. And they're all about to embark on a crazy adventure that will, unexpectedly, bring this family back together.

I love the craziness of Coupland's novels, how rooted they are in character. None of these people are anyone I would necessarily want as a friend--except that they are wonderful in their oddities and quirks. Without going into spoilers, I can say that Coupland made me love them enough that the event which should have been a deus ex machina, wasn't. I call that remarkable.

Because it really is character that drives this story. If you like the characters, if you believe the characters, the book becomes lovable. I don't know that the title is true, but it's certainly true that all families have quirks which look insane to the outside observer. This family just has more of them than most.

I picked this up intending to re-read Eleanor Rigby after I realized it's been on my shelf for several years. It made for a lovely afternoon's entertainment.

This is the first of Douglas Coupland's books that I have intensely detested. The plot is awful and ludicrous, the characters are charmless stereotypes or cliches of Coupland's earlier characters, and the dialogue is atrocious.

Not at all good. Terrible. Cringe-inducing dialogue, absurdly unrealistic premises, not funny, not serious, not anything.

This is the worst book I've ever read. Coupland wasted precious minutes of my life with this one. What was his point? Did he even have one? I hated his characters, and not b/c they were purposefully crafted to get under your skin. I hated them b/c they were shallow and delivered nothing to me in terms of meaning. I HATED THIS BOOK!!!!!!

What a crazy, f’d up thrill ride. Laughed out loud, grimaced, cringed and had my heart strings pulled. I loved it.