Sister Crazy [Paperback]

Emma Richler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 2002

The sprawling Weiss family--as recalled by Jemima, the middle child in Emma Richler’s amazing debut--live an almost idyllic existence. The feeling among the siblings is so palpable that we cannot help but share the acute nostalgia Jem experiences as she emerges from childhood.
In a darkly humorous voice she tells of playing elaborate war games with toy Action Man figures, composing a survival book ("Always have some sports news at hand for when your dad is in hospital after a scary operation to do with a fatal disease"), closely observing her beautiful Mum to fathom her magic, weaving the story of the Grail quest into her brother Jude's life. Jem’s extravagant tales of her eccentric beloved family will linger long after the last line.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What does it mean to be terminally, madly in love with your family? Jemima Weiss, the narrator of this nervy, inspired debut novel, knows very well the perils of the condition. She has never quite recovered from an imperfect but dangerously idyllic childhood, and in her stream-of-consciousness tale she loses herself in the lush lexicography of family. She is the middle child of five, born in the early `60s to an irascible Jewish sportswriter father and a gorgeous, serene Protestant mother who relocate from England to Canada when Jem is 11. Transatlantic and sophisticated, but also na‹ve and slightly wild, Jem and her siblings speak their own coded language, full of in-jokes and rambling free association (" `Agnus Dei,' says Ben. `Paschal lamb. Lamb to the slaughter.' `Mary had a little lamb!' I say"). Ben, the eldest, has what the family calls a gothic sensibility; Gus, the youngest, is a golden boy. Jem loves them both, but her deepest, most complicated feelings are reserved for scattered, ethereal Harriet, three years younger and her special charge, and silent, stalwart Jude, her beloved almost-twin. Vignettes strung together according to Jem's private logic allude to her education at different convent schools, the WWII games she plays with Jude, her fascination with St. Francis of Assisi (who "called everything Brother this and Sister that"). Throughout, hints dropped by an adult Jem reveal that "Sister Crazy" is not just a play name. As she grows up, Jem lapses into madness, tormented by the loss of the intimacies of childhood. Richler (daughter of the Canadian writer Mordecai Richler) perfectly channels Jem's wise-child voice. Though her narrative does not quite achieve the crystal clarity of Salinger's Glass family stories, she captures the allure and subtle perils of a similarly intense, hothouse upbringing.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From The New Yorker

In these interconnected stories, which have the spiky specificity of memoir and the layered nuance of fiction, four charming siblings journey into adulthood while their middle sister is left behind—in a netherworld brightened by the lure of sharp objects and the glow of the filled wineglass. But, unlike most tales of family dysfunction, Richler's is a romance, a dense mythology of Westerns and Arthurian loyalties and perplexing Catholic rituals; adult life pales, almost fatally, in comparison. Comic, poignant, and terrifying, these unusual stories expose the dangers of loving one's loving family too much to break free of it.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (June 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385720890
• ISBN-13: 978-0385720892
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,328,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely book you will not regret reading., September 14, 2006

By 

Erin B. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sister Crazy (Paperback)

I've read the reviews of this book from readers across the country. Its clear that more than half of them did not understand this book and were made very uncomfortable by the writer's form and style.

This is a wonderful book that shows the intricacies and inevitabilities of family love and devotion, and the damage that both can create.

I know this "review" gives you no feeling for the plot of the book - I only wish people would read and enjoy this book, and not pay attention to the dilettantes who pretend to be experts on Ms. Richler's work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lovely, lyrical and quietly wonderful, September 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sister Crazy (Hardcover)

With quietly stunning prose, delightful humor and fierce intelligence, Emma Richler paints a swirling, impressionistic portrait of a family and captures quite piercingly the psyche of one very perceptive girl.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reader, beware., June 16, 2005

By 

Nicole "nicolei84" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sister Crazy : Novel (Paperback)

This is a tricky book. The narrator of the book is picking through childhood memories as she tries to find peace in her adult life.

Most of the stories are hilarious, starting with the opening when she describes the Action Man figure she tormented as a child. It's hard for adult writers to effectively create a child's perspective and priorities but Richler's writing is convincing.

The sneaky/ brilliant part of Richler's writing is how the reader can get caught unaware by its emotional force. I laughed my way through a lot of the book, and was surprised when I started to worry about the narrator, to care about her family. I was surprised by the poignancy of memories of my own childhood her writing evoked. It's definitely a book to which I will return a few more times.