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Emotionally Weird: A Novel Hardcover – January 1, 2000

3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 1,626 ratings

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Seeking refuge in the ancient, mouldering home of their ancestors on an island off the coast of Scotland, Effie and her mother, Nora, reveal the secrets of their lives and loves, past and present, to each other, in a hilarious novel about mothers, daughters, and love. 25,000 first printing.
"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Readers who survive the first 20 pages of this dense and playful novel, with its three different openings, constant jokes, and crowded cast of characters, will find themselves rewarded with a leisurely postmodern romp through the student ferment and bodily indulgences of the early 1970s. Although the publisher has called Emotionally Weird a comic novel, it is essentially unclassifiable, both further-reaching and less "meaningful" than it first appears. Kate Atkinson's book begins with chapter 1 of a bad murder mystery being written by Effie Andrews for a creative-writing course at the University of Dundee in 1972. But the action soon shifts to a wintry island in the Hebrides, where Effie is trying to elicit the story of her parentage from her single mother, Nora, while spinning a humorous first-person narrative of her college life. Only near the end of the book does she finally wrench the story from her mother: Effie's bizarre origins; the identity of her father; and the whole unlikely tale of her mother's family.

Like a Borgesian labyrinth, with other stories thrown in, including a laughably convenient introduction of magic realism, it is impossible to know what to take seriously--or "jocoseriously," to paraphrase another of Atkinson's influences: the Joyce of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. In her third novel, much of Atkinson's humor is incidental, even parenthetical. (We are told in passing, for example, that Effie's dissertation is called "Henry James: Man or Maze?") She is at her best when introducing her eccentric characters, such as the elderly Professor Cousins, who is sometimes lucid, sometimes not. "As with anyone in the department," Effie explains, "it wasn't always easy to distinguish between the two states. The university's strict laws of tenure dictated that he had to be dead at least three months before he could be removed from behind his desk." Professor Cousins, like the author, enjoys word games along the order of those in Alice in Wonderland, and Atkinson's use of Scottish idiom comes to function as a sort of word game. She also brings in a few killjoys (a militant feminist, a militant Christian, a literary theorist) to complicate an already loopy narrative and to spike the punch. Janice smelt of piety and coal tar soap. She had recently become a Christian, a neophyte of a student Christian fellowship whose members roamed the corridors of Airlie, Belmont and Chalmers Halls looking for likely converts (the afraid, the alone, the abandoned) and those who needed to use the Bible to fill in the spaces where their personalities should have been. As Emotionally Weird develops, Atkinson relies more and more on the postmodern gag of characters commenting on the unfolding action. There is no telling how she finally draws these disparate threads onto a single spool, but in the end, even the slightest subplots are neatly tied up and the most transient characters accounted for. --Regina Marler

From Publishers Weekly

When Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, beat out Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh for the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year Award, a controversy in the British press ensued. But this imaginative and unconventional writer strikes back at her detractors in her third book (after Human Croquet), skewering the academic literary establishment with understated but spot-on humor, while telling an imaginative tale both outrageously funny and poignantly human: Tom Robbins meets John Irving. Euphemia "Effie" Andrews, a 21-year-old Scot and student at the University of Dundee, arrives at a remote, barren Scottish island to swap life stories with her mother, Nora. Effie comes with a slew of tales about the free-love and druggy chaos of her early 1970s college life, and also armed with questions for Nora, determined to learn the truth about their family history. That is, if Nora is her mother, and if any of the stories either of them tell are true ("My mother is a virgin"). These are unreliable narrators in top form, keeping readers guessing delightedly throughout. The author uses different fonts to intertwine several narratives, including hilarious entries from Effie's, and her classmates', novels-in-progress, while these excerpts are interrupted by Nora's snide commentary. Effie's academic hijinks may be a bit exaggerated, since she's slogging along on a paper on George Eliot while living with occasional electricity and a continually stoned boyfriend. But truly alarming things are happening in Dundee: someone is killing residents of a retirement home, and a strange woman is following Effie. While the narrators' constant backtalk can be tiresome, Atkinson's clever and sophisticated prose preserves the voices' sparkling energy. Readers may guess the family secret before it is revealed, but that doesn't steal any thunder from the unsettling and utterly original denouement. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador USA; 1st edition (January 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 343 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312203241
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312203245
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 1.5 x 9.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 1,626 ratings

About the author

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Kate Atkinson
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Kate Atkinson is an international bestselling novelist, as well as playwright and short story writer. She is the author of Life After Life; Transcription; Behind the Scenes at the Museum, a Whitbread Book of the Year winner; the story collection Not the End of the World; and five novels in the Jackson Brodie crime series, which was adapted into the BBC TV show Case Histories.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
1,626 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the humor witty and perceptive. They describe the book as good value for money and an anticipated treat. Readers praise the author's talent. However, some find the plot tedious and hard to get into. Opinions are mixed on the character development - some find them interesting and well-written, while others feel they lack depth or connect poorly with the characters.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

32 customers mention "Humor"30 positive2 negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor. They find the dialogue amusing and the writing style clever. The author's trademark sense of humor is also appreciated.

"...Atkinson is one of my favorite writers, one of the few who makes me laugh out loud...." Read more

"Kate Atkinson is a master wordsmith and this particular writing has dozens of clever turns: "Archie (...) seemed to have momentarily lost his..." Read more

"It was fun, many places that I laughed aloud. Very accurate portrayal of the life of young people during late sixties, early seventies...." Read more

"...Kate Atkinson has brilliantly depicted university life, witty and perceptive. Was she in my share house and at my tutorials?..." Read more

13 customers mention "Value for time"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and worth reading. They describe it as a treat to look forward to from this author. The narrative is described as fun with many laugh-out-loud moments. Overall, readers praise the book as an excellent novel in full Kate Atkinson mode with an engaging narrative and wry humor.

"...Emotionally Weird is amusing, interesting and kept me involved all the way...." Read more

"It was fun, many places that I laughed aloud. Very accurate portrayal of the life of young people during late sixties, early seventies...." Read more

"...involved but the characters are interesting in themselves and keep you involved...." Read more

"...though she wasn't doing her best work here, it still engaged me thoroughly from first to last." Read more

4 customers mention "Author talent"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the author's writing.

"Kate Atkinson is a most original author. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to anything she may write in the future." Read more

"I enjoy Kate Atkinson's books. She is an incredibly talented writer. I am ready for her next one after having just finished Emotionally Weird!" Read more

"great author, have enjoyed several of her books, especially the Jackson Brody series" Read more

"Love this author!" Read more

44 customers mention "Plot"23 positive21 negative

Customers have different views on the plot. Some find it engaging and interesting, with wry humor. Others feel the plot isn't particularly interesting and the characters are vague. Overall, opinions vary on whether the book is entertaining or not.

"Some beautiful passages near the beginning. But the plot goes completely off the track, as the author herself admits: "I warned you...." Read more

"...The story line is convoluted but the characters, especially the students and university professors provide some of the best caricatures of academic..." Read more

"...Perfect capture of that life. And one can see how her style evolved from here...stories within stories. It's instructive to see..." Read more

"...Not her best story-telling - but possibly her best writing." Read more

16 customers mention "Character development"7 positive9 negative

Customers have mixed views on the character development. Some find the characters interesting and well-written, while others feel the plot and characters are unlikely and difficult to connect with.

"...There are too many characters and you get a bit lost between them but Atkinson amusingly points to this in one of her many "commentaries"..." Read more

"...The writing is brilliant; the sketches of characters are clever and funny. But the bizarre incoherence of the narration makes the book tough going...." Read more

"...Not a single character is less than repulsive - no - reprehensible; every location is soiled, literally or figuratively; who cares if the mystery of..." Read more

"...That perfectly describes this book. Tons of characters....and the reader is inundated with every thought each character has as well as with..." Read more

4 customers mention "Difficulty to read"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book tedious and hard to get into.

"...words, nothing really seemed to happen, " "How tedious this all seemed. I wasn’t sure I could sit still for a whole hour." &#..." Read more

"...of it were interesting and funny, but the majority of it I found really tedious...." Read more

"My least favorite of all the Kate Atkinson novels. Hard to get into. I only persevered because I'd finished all the others...." Read more

"Some good descriptions of university. But becomes tedious. Too many stories. Go read a real review ftom when itwas publihed ifyou want to know more." Read more

4 customers mention "Emotional content"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the emotional content weird.

"emotionally weird..." Read more

"Very emotionally weird but yet hilarious...." Read more

"Emotionallhy Weird..." Read more

"Emotionally Weird is Weirdly Hilarious..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2013
    Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite writers, one of the few who makes me laugh out loud. Emotionally Weird is amusing, interesting and kept me involved all the way. The story line is convoluted but the characters, especially the students and university professors provide some of the best caricatures of academic life since David Lodge wrote Changing Places and Small World. I especially liked the Mrs. McCue and Macbeth, the mother of professor Archie McCue and her pal who from time to time escape from their retirement home, The Anchorage. These two are in turn accompanied by the dog Janet, an "old fat Westie" who has to be kept in hiding atThe Anchorage. When one of the characters embarks on reading a story he has written, called Edrakonia, and worries about beginning in the middle, Mrs Macbeth says "It disnae matter...the beginning, the middle, the end - it makes no difference." Her pal adds: "Just fill us in quickly...a wee bittie plot and we'll soon get the hang of it." And there you have it: No matter which part of the novel you open, beginning, middle or end, you will soon get the hang of it and stay entertained.

    Johanna Bos
    14 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2015
    Kate Atkinson is a master wordsmith and this particular writing has dozens of clever turns: "Archie (...) seemed to have momentarily lost his train of thought. We all waited for him to re-board." (Why has no one else kept this metaphor so completely intact before!?!)
    She describes a character as: "Tall and thin and as sensual as a cod." (Brilliant!)
    "Kevin was staring at the space Olivia's feet would have occupied if she had been there." (Oh, to say without saying!)
    "She had a hangover and she hadn't even finished drinking yet." and ' "Your mother sounds kind of cool", Andrea said. Misguidedly.'
    Her funny, easy style of writing is sprinkled through the book - irrespective of the plot: it seems to exist purely for her (and eventually our) enjoyment!
    I struggled some with the interweaving timelines, characters, pieces of fiction and non-fiction within 'Emotionally Weird'. But, Kate Atkinson's jaw-dropping and laugh-out-loud skill with our language held me to the end. Not her best story-telling - but possibly her best writing.
    12 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2022
    Some beautiful passages near the beginning. But the plot goes completely off the track, as the author herself admits: "I warned you. I told you right at the beginning that it would be a tale sos trange and tragic that you would think it wrought from a lurid and overactive imagination rather than real life." p. 324

    Some of the promising lines from the beginning:
    "Some people spend their whole lives looking for themselves, yet our self is the one thing we surely cannot lose ..." p. 11

    "Terri grimaced and replaced her sunglasses and pulled on a black beret so that now she looked like a deranged governess engaged in guerrilla warfare.." p. 22

    "The university was still managing to run its heating although no-one knew how -- perhaps they were burning books, or (more likely) students." p. 27

    "Nothing will stop Archie talking, not even death probably, he will rumble on from the inside of his large coffin until the worms get fed up with the noise and ear his tongue..." p. 27
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2014
    It was fun, many places that I laughed aloud. Very accurate portrayal of the life of young people during late sixties, early seventies. The offhand way we lived, and attended school, and cooked and communally raised kids. Perfect capture of that life. And one can see how her style evolved from here...stories within stories. It's instructive to see
    How she developed her craft from this pleasant read to her current fine work. Most fun of all was the author's dead on reconstruction of pedantic literature professor.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2014
    This book is set in the seventies at a Scottish university. Kate Atkinson has brilliantly depicted university life, witty and perceptive. Was she in my share house and at my tutorials? The mystery keeps you involved but the characters are interesting in themselves and keep you involved. There are too many characters and you get a bit lost between them but Atkinson amusingly points to this in one of her many "commentaries" which are incorporated in the story.
    I have recommended it to many people already.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2009
    Kate Atkinson is among my favorite authors, thus my disappointment in this work is profound. The book is pure self-indulgent drivel; so much so, that I wonder if she wrote it just to see how much she could get away with--with the critics. Not a single character is less than repulsive - no - reprehensible; every location is soiled, literally or figuratively; who cares if the mystery of the protagonist's heritage is solved; why bother to finish this demeaning yet boring missle...... The word that comes to mind is "pejorative", which I don't commonly use because it is so often used by self-important psuedo-intellectuals. But Atkinson's dance through the hallways of profoundly defective academia-speak has to be described with words of equal disimportance. Don't touch this book; it is NOT clever and the sleasiness might rub off on your assaulted psyche.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012
    Kate Atkinson is among my very favourite writers for her keen intelligence and wit, the economy and inventiveness of her language and her empathy with human frailty.

    It's all there in Emotionally Weird, but this is not the most satisfying of her novels, hence only 4 stars. I read it commuting on the train and often had to control the urge to laugh out loud, but it had the feel of a book she banged off between more important books. It's a testimony to her brilliance that even though she wasn't doing her best work here, it still engaged me thoroughly from first to last.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Emma Clarke
    5.0 out of 5 stars You will need to keep up.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2023
    I will probably go straight back to the beginning once I've finished the last few pages. I know I will get some more from now understanding the various narratives she has woven. KA is an author writing a book about an author who writes a book and her leading character is writing a book too, ditto that character! Books within books. However. I came a little late to that understanding but nevertheless enjoyed KA's turn of phrase, language, keen observations. It's not a totally easy read but worth the effort for the many gems.
  • caroliner
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved every minute
    Reviewed in France on May 20, 2017
    I was feeling rather deprived of Kate Atkinson books until I realised that I had never read this one.
    Rather like Case Histories, the minute I had finished it I felt like starting all over again. Funny and sad, thought-provoking, lots of hidden bits, intriguing, unusual... just a really brilliant book. I honestly think that she is one of the best writers around at the moment.
  • Deborah Friedewald
    2.0 out of 5 stars Not her best novel by a long shot.
    Reviewed in Australia on April 8, 2022
    Way too clever and complicated. Confusingly verbose in parts. I abandoned the book without finishing it.
  • John Fraser
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
    Reviewed in Canada on February 11, 2014
    KW is one of my favourites largely because she is never predictable . This offering will not disappoint the inquisitive reader and will be a joy to anyone who likes a different turn.
  • Colourful
    5.0 out of 5 stars Anregende, sättigende Lektüre - macht trotzdem Hunger auf mehr ...
    Reviewed in Germany on March 21, 2013
    ... von Kate Atkinson. Dies war mein erstes Buch von ihr, das mir vor Jahren in der Bibliothek in die Hände fiel. Seitdem bin ich ein großer Fan ihrer Bücher, da sie einen literarisch sehr fähigen und trotzdem humorvollen, liebevollen Blick auf die Unwägbarkeiten des Lebens und die großen und kleinen menschlichen Unzulänglichkeiten wirft, eingepackt in komplexe, unterhaltsame Geschichten. Ein Muss für Liebhaber der etwas anderen Sichtweise, die so anders gar nicht ist, sondern aufgrund gesellschaftlicher Konventionen nicht unbedingt das Tageslicht erblickt. Klare Kaufempfehlung.