Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is one of 2014's most memorable and lauded novels. Having received rave reviews across the world, it won the Pen/Faulkner in the United States and then became one of the first works by an American to be shortlisted for the Man Booker.
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Our narrator is Rosemary Cooke, an introverted college student drifting through life.
Slowly, she reveals that her isolation springs from her unconventional upbringing. Her
father is an animal behaviourist, her mother is traumatised, her brother has
gone Awol and her sister, Fern, has vanished entirely. The implication that Fern’s disappearance lies at the heart of her dysfunction is explained in a beautifully judged twist, not so much in the tail as the head.
I talked to Karen on the day We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was published in the United Kingdom. She was in suitably celebratory mood, sipping prosecco as we discussed (in part one):
Episode 50 - David Gates: Part 1
Episode 49 - Writing Life Trailer: David Gates on Donald Trump
Episode 48 - Harry Parker: Part 3
Episode 47 - Harry Parker: Part 2
Episode 46 - Harry Parker: Part 1
Episode 45 - Harry Parker: Reading from Anatomy of a Soldier
Episode 44 - David Mitchell and Michel Faber in conversation: Part 4
Episode 43 - David Mitchell and Michel Faber in conversation: Part 3
Episode 42 - David Mitchell and Michel Faber in conversation: Part 2
Episode 41 - David Mitchell and Michel Faber in conversation: Part 1
Episode 40 - David Mitchell and Michel Faber in conversation: Trailer
Episode 39 - Tom Drury Live at Bookseller Crow: Part 3
Episode 38 - Tom Drury Live at Bookseller Crow: Part 2
Episode 37 - Tom Drury Live at Bookseller Crow: Part 1
Episode 36 - Kate Hamer: Part 2
Episode 35 - Kate Hamer: Reading from The Girl in the Red Coat
Episode 34 - Kate Hamer - Girl in a Red Coat: Part 1
Episode 33 - Kate Hamer reads Chapter 1 of The Girl in the Red Coat
Episode 32 - Sloane Crosley: Part 2
Episode 31 - Sloane Crosley: Part 1
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