We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves centers on Rosemary, a college student at UC Davis who recounts her unusual childhood in Indiana. Her father, a psychology professor, conducted scientific research that shaped the family's early dynamics and left lasting impacts on their relationships. The narrative moves between past and present as Rosemary pieces together the events that led to her family's fracturing. Her quest to understand what happened brings her face-to-face with secrets from her past and forces her to confront long-buried memories. This PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel explores the bonds between family members, the nature of memory, and the complex intersection of science and emotion. It raises questions about identity, ethical research, and what truly makes a family.

Readers describe this book as emotionally complex and thought-provoking, with many noting they couldn't predict where the story would go. The writing style and narrative structure receive frequent mentions in reviews. Readers appreciated: - The unique perspective on family relationships - Smart handling of scientific and ethical themes - Humor mixed with serious topics - The narrator's authentic voice - Plot twists that reshape the entire story Common criticisms: - Slow pacing in the middle sections - Too much academic/scientific detail - Some found the narrator unlikeable - Narrative jumps between time periods confused some readers Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (102,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (2,300+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (1,200+ ratings) "Made me question everything I thought I knew about family bonds," wrote one Amazon reviewer. A Goodreads user noted: "The scientific passages dragged but the emotional core of the story stayed with me."

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🔹 Karen Joy Fowler spent five years researching primate behavior and language studies to authentically portray the scientific aspects of the novel, including visiting primate research facilities. 🔹 The book won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, making Fowler the first woman to receive this prestigious literary prize in a decade. 🔹 The novel was inspired by real-life cross-fostering experiments conducted in the 1970s, where scientists raised chimpanzees alongside human children to study language acquisition. 🔹 UC Davis, where much of the novel is set, is home to the California National Primate Research Center, one of seven major primate research facilities in the United States. 🔹 The book's unique narrative structure, which withholds a crucial plot revelation until nearly halfway through, was inspired by psychological studies on memory and perception.