Based on my love for another Kate Atkinson novel, Case Histories, I thought Emotionally Weird would be a good read. To my disappointment, I ended up having to force myself through the book, hoping that at some point I would begin to like at least one of the characters in the novel. Instead, every character came off as slightly repulsive and one-dimensional, and I never gained an appreciation or sympathy for any of them. About halfway through the book, I began to feel like I was stuck in a Groundhog's Day scenerio, where every chapter seemed to repeat slightly modified descriptions of characters' weird clothing, drug-filled dorm room conversations revolving around Star Trek quotes, and excerpts from lame papers/novels being written by the students or their professors. My advice is to skip this one and try some of Kate Atkinson's other books instead.

I completely enjoyed Emotionally Weird. I think I giggled from start to finish. The major part of the book is a very funny sendup of university life, as applicable now as in the 70s, just replace Klingons with Xbox, or other games. All the professors are skewered as well, and everyone, it seems, is a writer (doesn't it seem that way, though?), except for the vampiric Terri, who proves to have one, and only one, soft spot. Excellent characterizations, by the way, so it's not just a comic novel. The "main" story, which actually occupies only a small part of the novel, of the girl and her mother on the island, is my least favorite part, although it serves to tie things together. I'd have been happy with just the college life parts, and I think the author realized this, as she keeps the rest of the stories to a minimum. Read this and giggle.

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.

Well, I made it through the first 20 pages and found myself completely rewarded by this charming and very, very funny book. Just enjoy it, appreciate the humor and don't take it too seriously!

This book is rather unconventional. While many others have each chapter be a different story with all the stories usually converging in the end, Ms. Atkinson takes 4+ stories and cuts and pastes them together in each chapter. Around 200 pages I almost quit reading as I was getting frustrated as I couldn't figure out what was real and what was just a story. After finishing the book I'm still not so sure if I know what was real. The obsession about the main charachters parentage is the main theme of this book and I'm pretty sure the conclusions are actually real and not a story the mother and daughter make up. I wish you all the best in reading this. I've never been a great appreciator of modern art and I suppose this is "modern literature."