So the first major thing to say is that both the blurb on the back of the book and the cover illustration of this edition spoiled the major plot twist, so I spent the first 70 pages wondering how I was supposed to react, and how I would have reacted had I not known that Fern was a chimp, not a girl. Once that was over, though, I found the book to be a solid family drama with relatable main characters. It's hard to more thoroughly review without massive spoilers, and I tend to think that spoiler-y reviews are not helpful, so suffice to say that I found Rosemary, Harlow and Lowell particularly to be fascinating, unique characters and I found Rosemary's journey from loquacious youngest sibling to recalcitrant only child to be interesting.

Two major downsides: one is that the animal rights stuff got a little heavy-handed to the point of detracting from the main plot. (A major side plot seemed to be: "You, too, can join the ALF. Here is how. Don't feel bad, they're not really terrorists -- they don't hurt people, they just set back life-saving research by years, but that doesn't really count.") The other downside is that the last 20% of the book feels really weak. It mostly is just tying up loose ends and has completely lost the momentum of the first portion.

Overall, I found this book compulsive reading. I had to know what happened to Fern and Lowell, and then what Rosemary was going to do. The characters were done beautifully and Fowler succeeded at something that so much contemporary literature fails at: an actually unique story. ( )

For me or to me, this is a fantastic book. The writing is fun, clear, explicit; the story is moving and powerful. The character of the narrator/protagonist is well-developed and complex. And this book moved me, and then it moved me some more. ( )

Childhood, memory, family and identity. Common themes but Fowler handles them with uncommon perspective, tenderness, and freshness. Immersed in the sideways unfolding of the narrative that reminds us that anyone (all of us?) may feel she is "other", I found myself making a list of words to look up as well as jotting down the page number of sentences that rang with clarity and truth:

"We need a sort of reverse mirror test. Some way to identify those species smart enough to see themselves when they look at someone else." 201-202

"The value of money is a scam perpetuated by those who have it over those who don't; it's the Emperor's New Clothes gone global." 228

"The world runs on the fuel of this endless, fathomless misery [cruelty to animals]. People know it, but they don't mind what they don't see. Make them look and they mind, but you're the one they hate, because you're the one that made them look." 232

"Making people look at what is really happening is about to become a serious crime." 238

"Over the years I've come to feel that the way people respond to us has less to do with what we've done and more to do with who they are." 240

"I thought there were moments to complain about your parents and moments to be grateful, and it was a shame to mix those moments up. I made a mental note to remember this in my own life, but it got lost the way mental notes do." 259

"When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. Even their smaller sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book." 273 ( )

A story centered around a chimpanzee with a title like “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” sounds like it will be a barrel of laughs. And while Karen Joy Fowler's first-rate 2013 novel is often witty, it is mostly heartbreaking.

Fowler's narrator, Rosemary, spends her first five years of life as part of a science experiment. Her father, a psychology professor in Indiana, wants to raise a human baby with a chimpanzee baby to see how they will influence each other. Their house is filled with chaos and grad students, but also love. Rosemary thinks of Fern as her twin sister, a feeling apparently shared by Fern.

Then suddenly Fern is taken away. The experiment ends. The grad students leave. And the happy family begins to disintegrate. Lowell, Rosemary's older brother, becomes an animal-rights terrorist while still in his teens. Her father turns to drink. Her mother has a breakdown and stays in bed for a long period. Rosemary, the talkative little girl, goes silent.

The novel covers more than two decades, with Fern never far from Rosemary's thoughts. How she finds a way to become reunited with her sister, after her brother's efforts have failed, lead to Fowler's inspiring and surprising conclusion.

This is a wise, wonderful novel unlike anything you have read before. ( )

I added this to my to-read list and completely forgot every bookjacket detail, and did not refresh the memory before sitting down finally to read. As a result I spent the first 20% dismayed by people with serious boundary issues and wondering why I'd picked it. Then the heart of the story kicked in and I found myself enrapt. Glad I persevered. ( )