Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman

Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman will be published by The Friday Project (an imprint of Harper Collins) on 3 January 2012.
I discovered Andrw Kaufman's writing back in January of this year when I read and reviewed his wonderful novella The Tiny Wife (read my review here).    I startled myself, and some of my friends by praising a story that could be classed as magical realism - a genre that usually leaves me cold.

I am startled once more!  Born Weird is most certainly magical realism, and is a full-length novel, and I loved every page.  I'm a little perplexed, a little bemused and fairly confused about it all to be honest; it's a case of thinking 'what the hell was that all about?', but I really really enjoyed it.


Born Weird is book weird!     Five brothers and sisters, all with a blursing.  What in God's name is a blursing?  Well, each of the siblings were given a blessing by their Grandmother when they were born, these blessings turned out to be more curse-like.  So, a cross between a blessing and a curse  - a blursing!
Grandmother Weird is going to die, on her birthday, and has decided that she will remove these blessings on her death-bed.   Angie is given the task of making sure that all the brothers and sisters arrive together, on time before Grandmother dies.  

And so the reader is plunged into the weird and wonderful world of the Weird family and travels along with them on their remarkable journey.  Along the way their past history is revealed and each character is introduced, along with their dead (or is he?) father and their totally bonkers mother.

I giggled and spluttered and gasped as this remarkable story unfolded, often wondering where on earth it was heading, but always eager to turn the page to find out a little bit more.

If you enjoy quirky and strange, and of course, weird, you will love this tale of family drama and life journeys.

My thanks to Sabah from The Friday Project for inviting me to read and review an advance copy of Born Weird.