Standard Deviation
Ratings6
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.5
TheSkimm’s Best of Skimm Reads NPR’s Guide to Great Reads The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction of the Year Minnesota Public Radio’s The Best Books to Give and Get: Fiction Picks of the Year An uproarious novel ("Both heart-piercing and, crucially, very funny." —Louise Erdrich, The New York Times) from the celebrated author of Single, Carefree, Mellow about the challenges of a good marriage, the delight and heartache of raising children, and the irresistible temptation to wonder about the path not taken. When Graham Cavanaugh divorced his first wife it was to marry his girlfriend, Audra, a woman as irrepressible as she is spontaneous and fun. But, Graham learns, life with Audra can also be exhausting, constantly interrupted by chatty phone calls, picky-eater houseguests, and invitations to weddings of people he’s never met. Audra firmly believes that through the sheer force of her personality she can overcome the most socially challenging interactions, shepherding her son through awkward playdates and origami club, and even deciding to establish a friendship with Graham’s first wife, Elspeth. Graham isn't sure he understands why Audra longs to be friends with the woman he divorced. After all, former spouses are hard to categorize—are they enemies, old flames, or just people you know really, really well? And as Graham and Audra share dinners, holidays, and late glasses of wine with his first wife he starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did I make the right choice? Is there a right choice? A hilarious and rueful debut novel of love, marriage, infidelity, and origami, Standard Deviation never deviates from the superb.
Reviews with the most likes.
A bit like one of the less entertaining episodes of Gilmore Girls.
I so-enjoyed The Portable Veblen earlier this year. I thought I would never find a similar book. Yet unexpectedly a fellow blogger led me to this book from the backlist of Katherine Heiny. I couldn't be more delighted.
Graham reflects upon his second wife, Audra, and contrasts her with his first wife, Elspeth. Which was the better choice? he wonders. No-filter Audra, who never stops talking, who befriends and brings home every stray person who enters her life? Or solitary, chilly Elspeth, still alone many years after their divorce? Audra is not an easy person to be married to, especially for quiet Graham.
Graham also contemplates Matthew, his son, with Asperger's and all its accompanying quirks, as Matthew finds friendship for the first time when he joins the Origami Club.
Humor. Wry philosophy. A small gem of a book.
