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Book Review of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
reviewed on + 106 more book reviews


This was our last book club selection. We had fourteen people turn up for the meeting. Thirteen of us really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others. I was the lone dissenter.
Yes, the book was interesting, but did it grab me? No. Is it a must read? No. It does offer a lot of points for discussion.
The book is a campaign against cruelty to animals (and anyone with a heart will be emotionally effected by both the true and the fictitious accounts described within) disguised as a novel.
Actually the part of the book I probably "enjoyed" (read: found most interesting) the most was the "true" factual accounts the author includes about actual animal studies. But the characters in the novel...well, I found them difficult to embrace. I like to "like" at least some of the characters in a book. I want to befriend a character and care about them as I travel with them through their story. I did not feel that way with any of the characters in this book.
All of that being said; the book does offer up several interesting and thought provoking ideas.
Like:
"...in retrospect, the lesson seemed to be that what you accomplish will never matter so much as where you fail."