Standard Deviation

A bit like one of the less entertaining episodes of Gilmore Girls.

I so-enjoyed The Portable Veblen earlier this year. I thought I would never find a similar book. Yet unexpectedly a fellow blogger led me to this book from the backlist of Katherine Heiny. I couldn't be more delighted.

Graham reflects upon his second wife, Audra, and contrasts her with his first wife, Elspeth. Which was the better choice? he wonders. No-filter Audra, who never stops talking, who befriends and brings home every stray person who enters her life? Or solitary, chilly Elspeth, still alone many years after their divorce? Audra is not an easy person to be married to, especially for quiet Graham.

Graham also contemplates Matthew, his son, with Asperger's and all its accompanying quirks, as Matthew finds friendship for the first time when he joins the Origami Club.

Humor. Wry philosophy. A small gem of a book.

I might be slightly in love with Katherine H. And her easy way of bringing characters to (my) life.