Focusing all the attention on the twist threatens to obscure Fowler's other more considerable talents. Some might say I'm spoiling the twist, but given what plays out (as Rosemary pieces together the real story behind Fern's removal from her family, Lowell's estrangement, and the unwitting role Rosemary herself played in events), a novel that is both one giant moral compass and a harrowing depiction of a family's implosion, the prose of which zings on the pages – a grandmother, for example, for whom 'conspiracy is folded into her DNA like egg whites into angel food cakes' – deserves to be acclaimed for the right reasons. They conducted experiments around the breakfast table, made freak shows of their own families, and all to answer questions nice people wouldn't even think to ask.' Think Project Nim and you get the idea. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: A Novel Paperback Februby Karen Joy Fowler (Author) 30,653 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle 13.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover 15.27 Other new, used and collectible from 2.25 Paperback 11.89 Other new and used from 1. 'Psychologists,' she tells us, 'didn't leave their work at the office. The choppy structure of the plot could also be representative of trauma as she struggles with reciting her memories. The story jumps around through different significant parts of her life. You have to wait until page 77 for the explanation for their disappearance, but it's not too hard to work it out for yourself – Rosemary grew up in the 1970s, and her father was a psychology professor at Indiana University. We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves begins in medias res and the structure of the timeline allows the author to simulate the recollection of memory. Both, however, have long since vanished from her and their parents' lives. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, 2013) ISBN 9780399162091 - 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Winner, shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize Booth (Putnam, 2022) ISBN 9780593331439 - The story of the family of Shakespearean actors best known for their connection to Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth. R osemary Cooke, a quiet college student, grew up with her sister Fern and her older brother Lowell.

We are all beside ourselves