- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; paperback / softback edition (3 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007117515
- ISBN-13: 978-0007117512
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,045,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In All Families Are Psychotic, Coupland combines Anne Tyler's compassionate command of family relationships with a world-view that probably hails from a distant galaxy. His latest work of genius is fast-paced, blisteringly funny and the literary equivalent of electric-shock therapy.
NASA Astronauts must be the healthiest people on the planet, and Sarah Drummond, preparing for her debut launch from Cape Canaveral, is no exception. Unfortunately, Sarah's family, gathered in Florida to witness the take-off, is sick--in every sense. Her brother Wade, a low-rent hockey star whose only real talent is bedding women, is performing an elaborate tango with terminal illness and the Federal Penitentiary system. Her mother Janet is a devotee of Internet porn and outlawed medication. Then there's Bryan, who has nothing wrong with him except a highly contradictory desire to have children and kill himself. And Bryan's girlfriend, who really is called Shaw, and really doesn't care about much except renting her womb to the highest bidder.
While Sarah patiently prepares for outer space, Wade glimpses a lucrative, if desperate remedy to his family's manifold miseries. And as the countdown begins, the dysfunctional Drummonds--a family who have hitherto been unable to meet up without sustaining gunshot wounds--find themselves united in a last, labyrinthine quest for personal salvation. It's a journey punctuated by medication schedules, peppered with sleazy trailer-parks and even sleazier characters, a Disneyworld scented with dirty money and encroaching death. But somewhere along the way, the Drummonds are about to discover that they're not much different to any other family.
--Matthew Baylis
Review
'Coupland takes more risks with tone and plot in this book than I have ever seen. And in a feat of the most astonishing literary chutzpah, he somehow pulls it off. All Families are Psychotic is a unique and wonderful book. The tone is utterly fresh and thrillingly modern. Yet again, Coupland has zeroed in on where we are now. For a social satirist, this is the most vital skill, and it is precisely what Coupland possesses more than any other contemporary writer. Coupland manages to pull off cynical and penetrating social satire without being remotely nihilistic.' William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday
'Coupland's last four novels are so good and so distinctive that they seem to me to mark a genuine seismic shift in the literary landscape.' Nicholas Blincoe, New Statesman
'Douglas Coupland is one of the freshest, most exciting voices of the novel… He has a wonderful talent’ tom wolfe
'Coupland has passion and pace, intelligence and wit. If you find anything about the way we live now disturbing and wrong, he is your man. (He is my man.)' Daily Telegraph
'Coupland at his best can make a single phrase say more than many another writer's whole novel.' jenny turner, London Review of Books
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Absolutely wonderfull.No other author can make you laugh as often as he can make you cry. The simple idealism that this book ends on is beautifull. If only the carrot Coupland often dangles was real enough to bite so we could have more than a teasing glimpse of his world. It kept me distracted at work, I couldn't put it down. By far worth a read, and should this be the first book you read by him order Girlfriend in a coma and Life after God as back up, because trust me you'll want to start it all over again.xx
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Douglas Coupland's wry observations on Generations X and Y normally deliver witty dialogue and smart insights. But in this novel he puts his words into the mouths of the wrong people (particularly Janet)and the story is weak. The book suffers as a result.
Maybe all families are psychotic, but none are like this one. If you're new to Coupland, try some of his other recent novels - Girlfriend in a Coma, Miss Wyoming - and Generation X rather than this sub-standard book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excellent book. Not much can be said about it other than it is a must read, funny, interesting, and believable... well, maybe just funny and interesting.
The completely over-the-top plot would usually put me off a book, but the hillarious situations and genuinely brilliant characters kept me hooked from start to finish.
The relationships in this book although downright bizzare, are also beautiful, and the last few lines between Janet and Sarah give the book the perfect ending.
Since reading this I have read Coupland's first book, Generation X, which was dissapionting in comparison to this, but I still look forward to reading some of his other work such as Girlfriend In A Coma and JPod.
The completely over-the-top plot would usually put me off a book, but the hillarious situations and genuinely brilliant characters kept me hooked from start to finish.
The relationships in this book although downright bizzare, are also beautiful, and the last few lines between Janet and Sarah give the book the perfect ending.
Since reading this I have read Coupland's first book, Generation X, which was dissapionting in comparison to this, but I still look forward to reading some of his other work such as Girlfriend In A Coma and JPod.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Soap suds
I read this book because it was selected by my reading group, it is the worst choice ever. It reads like a tacky American soap opera shown on one of the obscure digital TV channels... Read more
Published 5 months ago by ChrisChick
Easy reading
An enjoyable read to fly through. An interesting well thought out story. I am buying more Coupland books on the back of reading this.
Published 7 months ago by Goldbaaren
One for the charity pile
Like many other reviewers I loved Microserfs and Girlfriend in a Coma, both of which pull off the trick of being both stylish and poignant, while saying something interesting about... Read more
Published 15 months ago by L. Tolman
Very poor.
The first D Coupland book I'm reading, 2/3rds the way through and I'm totally unimpressed. Find it bland and trivial. It reads like a second-rate teenage novel. Read more
Published 22 months ago by F Drew
One of my favourite books
I believe that, along with Generation X and Generation A, this ranks as one of Douglas Coupland's best books. Read more
Published on 15 April 2010 by Complainathon
pure escapism
Fast, fantastical and funny! What more can I say the plot(s) twist and twine - it's crazy and chaotic but as long as you buy that you're in for a treat. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2010 by J. A. Brown
Not as you know him
All Families Are Psychotic is not normal Coupland fare by any chance. It's not full of of observation and apocalypse.
However, this is not a bad thing. Read more
However, this is not a bad thing. Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2008 by Heather Mclellan
Weird yet wonderful
This was a wonderfully bizarre and amusing book with some really insightful and profound sentiments: It would make a great film. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2008 by Net
Perhaps a bit too fragmented
I like Douglas Coupland a lot: his quirky stories show great sympathy for unpromising characters, and he often finds optimism and redemption in the most unlikely places. Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2007 by Jeremy Walton
Highly Recommended
This is a very funny book, but also moving and thought provoking. The twists and turns in the plot were fantastic - DC has the most amazing imagination to come up with these ideas,... Read more
Published on 8 July 2007 by gerty guinea
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