All Families are Psychotic, Douglas Coupland. (Paperback 0679311831) Book Reviews,

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All Families are Psychotic
Author: Douglas Coupland

Psychosis: any form of severe mental disorder in which the individual’s contact with reality becomes highly distorted. — Douglas Coupland, the author whom Tom Wolfe calls “one of the freshest, most exciting voices of the novel today,” delivers his tenth book in ten years of writing, with All Families Are Psychotic.... more » Coupland recently has been compared to Jack Kerouac and F. Scott Fitzgerald, yet he is a man firmly grounded in the current era. The novel is a sizzling and sharp-witted entertainment that resounds with eternal human yearnings.

In the opening pages, 65-year-old Janet Drummond checks the clock in her cheap motel room near Cape Canaveral, takes her prescription pills and does a rapid tally of the whereabouts of her three children: Wade, the eldest, in and out of jail and still radiating ”the glint”; suicidal Bryan, whose girlfriend, the vowel-free Shw, is pregnant; and Sarah, the family’s shining light, an astronaut preparing to be launched into space as the star of a shuttle mission. They will all arrive in Orlando today – along with Janet’s ex-husband Ted and his new trophy wife – setting the stage for the most disastrous family reunion in the history of fiction. Florida may never recover from their version of fun in the sun.

The last time the family got together, there was gunplay and an ensuing series of HIV infections. Now, what should be a celebration turns instead into a series of mishaps and complications that place the family members in constant peril. When the reformed Wade attempts to help his dad out of a financial jam and pay off his own bills at the fertility clinic, his plan spins quickly out of control. Adultery, hostage-taking, a letter purloined from Princess Diana’s coffin, heart attacks at Disney World, bankruptcy, addiction and black-market negotiations – Coupland piles on one deft, comic plot twist after another, leaving you reaching for your seat belt. When the crash comes, it is surprisingly sweet.

Janet contemplates her family, and where it all went wrong. “People are pretty forgiving when it comes to other people's family. The only family that ever horrifies you is your own.” During the writing, Coupland described the book as being about “the horrible things that families do to each other and how it makes them strong.” He commented: “Families who are really good to each other, I’ve noticed, tend to dissipate, so I wonder how awful a family would have to be to stick together.”

Coupland’s first novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, became a cultural phenomenon, affixing a buzzword and a vocabulary to a generation and going on to sell over a million copies. The novels that followed were all bestsellers, and his work has continued to show a fascination with the digital, brand-conscious, media-dense culture of contemporary North American society, leading some to peg him as “an up-to-the-minute cultural reference engine.” Meanwhile, his deeper interests in how human beings function in this spiritual vacuum have become increasingly apparent. For example, the character Wade contemplates his father: “What would the world have to offer Ted Drummond, and the men like him, a man whose usefulness to the culture had vanished somewhere around the time of Windows 95? Golf? Gold? Twenty-four hour stock readouts?” Janet, on the other hand, nears a kind of peace with life: “Time erases both the best and the worst of us.” All Families Are Psychotic shows Coupland being just as concerned for the grown-ups as for the kids.

ISBN-13: 9780679311836
ISBN-10: 0679311831
Publication Date: 9/24/2002
Pages: 288
Rating:

Currently 3.3/5 Stars.

3.3 stars, based on 11 ratings

Publisher: Random House
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Bridget Q. reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 7/5/2007 + 14 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

WOW. I have to say, this was a fantastic read. It reeled you in really quick, and I found it quite hilarious. But it was also extremely meaningful, which is my favorite type of book. The enjoyable ones that actually give you something to think about. It made me realize how true the title is--all families really are psychotic. It also made me realize how much I love my [psychotic] family =]

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Linda S. (dragonlady) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 12/2/2004 + 94 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

Puts the fun in dysfunctional.

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Terra S. (ophelia0x0) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 6/21/2008 + 2 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

Douglas Coupland at his quirkiest. This family is sweet and funny and very very messed up. Pop culture, ahoy!

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Catherine C. (c-squared) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 5/7/2007 + 181 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

One crazy turn after another from the king of post-modern lit.

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Ellyn A. (poptart1600) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 6/4/2006 + 63 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

The exploits of this beyond-dysfunctional family are a bit over the top, but it's an enjoyable and quick read.

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Christy E. (AbigailChristy) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 2/23/2009 + 23 more book reviews

I was attracted to the title of this book. Looked fun. It was strange. I finished reading it, but it was not that good really. Just kind of strange, odd. Dysfunctional family (aren't they all) with a bunch of whitty come-back lines. I don't know.

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Samantha S. (foreversjw) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 1/27/2012 + 3 more book reviews

This was a quick read. That being said...It was a little too far fetched. Some of the situations were almost laughable they were that OUT THERE.

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Julienne M. (emmaausten7) reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 5/3/2009 + 54 more book reviews

I found this book dull & difficult to follow. Could not finish.

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Jennifer G. reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 7/27/2009

Weird and good.

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Brad W. reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 10/19/2008 + 2 more book reviews

Terrible ending

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Jaimie F. reviewed All Families are Psychotic on 2/22/2007

An interesting picture of crazy family life. Some of the situations are a bit of a stretch, but Coupland's characters themselves are worth the read.

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