On the Shelf: Born Weird

BORN WEIRD | ANDREW KAUFMAN | RANDOM HOUSE CANADA | 2012

The Weirds have always been a little off, but not one of them ever suspected that they'd been cursed by their grandmother. At the moment of the births of her five grandchildren Annie Weird gave each one a special power. Richard, the oldest, always keeps safe; Abba always has hope; Lucy is never lost and Kent can beat anyone in a fight. As for Angie, she always forgives, instantly. But over the years these so-called blessings ended up ruining their lives. Now Annie is dying and she has one last task for Angie: gather her far-flung brothers and sisters and assemble them in her grandmother's hospital room so that at the moment of her death, she can lift these blessings-turned-curses. And Angie has just two weeks to do it.

I won a copy of this book from a giveaway on My Pen, My Voice at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, life has a silly habit of "getting in the way" and I wasn't able to read Born Weird until last month.

Life also gets in the way for the siblings of the Weird family. Thanks to blursings (blessing + curse) afflicted upon them by their grandmother, the five Weird children go through life expecting things to go smoothly and yet horribly wrong at the same time. Born Weird is completely realistic in its portrayal of family (dysfunctional families really do have a special place in the land of literature), but has a touch of magic realism to make the book a little strange. Or, weird.

The entire book reads like a Wes Anderson film (Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tenenbaums). I could practically hear the quirky soundtrack in the background as I read. Kaufman's uncanny ability to make short and choppy dialogue charming, and vague descriptions come to life, is a true demonstration of talent. I'm surprised Anderson hasn't already shown up at his doorstep with a screen adaptation.

Born Weird is a short book, and the story flew by quicker than I could turn the pages. It was my first encounter with Kaufman and I'm looking forward to more. If you've read any other Kaufman novels, which one should I pick up next?