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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Shakespearean. Innovative. Wild. I loved every page and want more stories of this unique and loving family.
Char The breakdown:
A famously debunked family of psychics attempt "normal life" and are failing miserable until an "event" forces them to re-evaluate the meaning of family and what it means to be a Telemachus.
What's to like:
-surprisingly funny and poignant dysfunctional family antics.
-multiple POVs, each with a distinctive character voice.
-pacing, OMG such good pacing that kept me turning the pages.
-author is a master at foreshadowing. You see the breadcrumbs, you know they're there, but still you're hit upside the head when it all comes together.
A famously debunked family of psychics attempt "normal life" and are failing miserable until an "event" forces them to re-evaluate the meaning of family and what it means to be a Telemachus.
What's to like:
-surprisingly funny and poignant dysfunctional family antics.
-multiple POVs, each with a distinctive character voice.
-pacing, OMG such good pacing that kept me turning the pages.
-author is a master at foreshadowing. You see the breadcrumbs, you know they're there, but still you're hit upside the head when it all comes together.
I just loved this book! It was so entertaining, and a joy to read. I didn't even realize it was by the same author of Raising Stony Mayhall, which I read not long ago and also liked.
This book reminded me a little bit of Carrie Vaughn's After the Golden Age, in that it's about the second generation of a family with superpowers (of a kind) and that it's just plain fun to read, and at the same time, well-written.
Spoonbenders hits on all cylinders -- relatable, three-dimensional characters; an interesting and well-thought-out plot; questions that keep you guessing; twists; and just enough magic in the realism.
This book reminded me a little bit of Carrie Vaughn's After the Golden Age, in that it's about the second generation of a family with superpowers (of a kind) and that it's just plain fun to read, and at the same time, well-written.
Spoonbenders hits on all cylinders -- relatable, three-dimensional characters; an interesting and well-thought-out plot; questions that keep you guessing; twists; and just enough magic in the realism.
“The thing about skeletons was, you never knew how much space they were taking up in the closet until you got rid of them.”
Spoonbenders is a funny story about a family. This particular family, the Amazing Telemachus Family, is a family of psychics. Each with abilities to astound and dazzle. Except, they don’t really work, and maybe they don’t exist at all.
In each chapter we meet Teddy, the family patriarch; Irene, the human lie detector; Frankie, who can move objects with his mind; Buddy, who can see the future; and Matty, Irene’s son and who recently discovered he can astral project.
Each chapter is told through one of their eyes, and they alternate the narrative, driving the both the plot forward and filling in the gaps of the past through their own perspective.
This novel is a story of misunderstanding, miscommunication and misperceptions.All families have secrets. Big secrets that we pray never sees the light of day. Little secrets that we hope never come out, but would cause little damage if they did. And a myriad of white lies, major lies and medium sized secrets mixed in for good measure. The Telemachus family is no different.
The story unfolds in the mid-90’s. Life has given them disappointment and heartache since they were kids. They find themselves facing a life they don’t recognize, and have gone down a path to try to fix that. But small choices can have big consequences.
As they each decide how to move forward, they all think they are acting in the best interest of their family. Matty only wants to help his mom make some extra money so she’ll be happy and they can move out of his grandpa’s house. Irene just wants to find some peace of mind and raise a normal son. Frankie wants the world for his family, to regain the notoriety they once had, and live the life he thinks they deserve. Teddy is always looking for the easy mark, someone to hustle. And Buddy, well, Buddy just wants the past, present and future to line up in a normal fashion.
Each of these desires are so intricately connected and reliant on another member of the family, yet they all keep secrets from each other, thinking that this will keep everyone safe until the end.
This book is very funny. Gregory finds the humor in everyday situations and delivers with such wit, you will find something to laugh at many time throughout.
“”Eight-year-olds playing soccer, Teddy decided, was a lot like a pack of border collies chasing a single sheep, except that the dogs would’ve used more teamwork.”
There’s just something so simple yet deeply hilarious about everyday observations like this, and they are sprinkled generously in this story.
I really enjoyed the way Gregory gives us the idea of power. I know I’ve dreamed of being able to move things with my mind, or detect a lie, or even see the future. He gives us these amazing talents, but he also shows us that perhaps they aren’t as alluring as we might initially think. There are still struggles and heartbreak and heartache, even with these amazing abilities. Life, still requires a lot of work.
Even though Buddy can see the future, he can’t see all the details so misunderstandings create false understandings. And, just because you can see the future, doesn’t mean it changes anything.
“Everything he knows about the whirlpool of past and future tells him that the universe does not owe you anything and even if it did, it would never pay up.”
Because of this, Buddy simply stops talking much at all, terrified of what he may inadvertently let slip. So when he begins tearing apart and completing random construction projects around the house without a word of explanation, its difficult for his family to understand. Yet, there are various moments when other family members think that if Buddy would only help them see the future, their decisions would be easier. Buddy seems to be the only one with the knowledge of how heavy and hard the future can be.
Irene can detect when someone is lying. Even a small, harmless lie. So she doesn’t trust anyone. And can’t open herself up to intimate relationships. Hearing the lie, no matter how small, is sometimes more painful than not knowing it’s there at all.
Frankie can move objects. Except, only sometimes, and never when he wants to, and never when it’s important.
And then there’s Matty. Who can leave his body and see the world. Except, there’s a few embarrassing things that need to happen before he can actually do any of that.
I absolutely loved the use of Teddy in the story. Teddy is always more than he seems, or exactly what he seems. A conman, a huckster, a fast talker. He knows how to work people and get what he wants. His sleight of hand is what makes him so good. So, we don’t expect Gregory to use the same tricks in his writing to make us look one way, when really he is leading us another. As the story unfolds, we are more and more confident of where the story is leading, yet when the pages are complete, it is exactly what we expected and at the same time, not at all what we expected. It’s a magic trick in plot. And it’s genius.
I really like the way the story is developed. Using the memories of each character to help us learn the past, as well as each characters current point of view creates a lush, deep, and rich view of the entire family. We get a sense of who they are and more importantly, why they are the way they are. We also get to see pieces of the plot unfold, knowing the missteps being planted along the way, unknowingly by each family member. But, again, the real delight is watching these plans hatch and being just as surprised by the outcome as they are. It truly is masterful story telling.
This is a quirky, fun, wonderful novel about family. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a funny, entertaining story! I loved it, and will revisit the Telemachus family in the future.
Thank you so much First To Read, Penguin Random House and AA Knopf, for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Spoonbenders is a funny story about a family. This particular family, the Amazing Telemachus Family, is a family of psychics. Each with abilities to astound and dazzle. Except, they don’t really work, and maybe they don’t exist at all.
In each chapter we meet Teddy, the family patriarch; Irene, the human lie detector; Frankie, who can move objects with his mind; Buddy, who can see the future; and Matty, Irene’s son and who recently discovered he can astral project.
Each chapter is told through one of their eyes, and they alternate the narrative, driving the both the plot forward and filling in the gaps of the past through their own perspective.
This novel is a story of misunderstanding, miscommunication and misperceptions.All families have secrets. Big secrets that we pray never sees the light of day. Little secrets that we hope never come out, but would cause little damage if they did. And a myriad of white lies, major lies and medium sized secrets mixed in for good measure. The Telemachus family is no different.
The story unfolds in the mid-90’s. Life has given them disappointment and heartache since they were kids. They find themselves facing a life they don’t recognize, and have gone down a path to try to fix that. But small choices can have big consequences.
As they each decide how to move forward, they all think they are acting in the best interest of their family. Matty only wants to help his mom make some extra money so she’ll be happy and they can move out of his grandpa’s house. Irene just wants to find some peace of mind and raise a normal son. Frankie wants the world for his family, to regain the notoriety they once had, and live the life he thinks they deserve. Teddy is always looking for the easy mark, someone to hustle. And Buddy, well, Buddy just wants the past, present and future to line up in a normal fashion.
Each of these desires are so intricately connected and reliant on another member of the family, yet they all keep secrets from each other, thinking that this will keep everyone safe until the end.
This book is very funny. Gregory finds the humor in everyday situations and delivers with such wit, you will find something to laugh at many time throughout.
“”Eight-year-olds playing soccer, Teddy decided, was a lot like a pack of border collies chasing a single sheep, except that the dogs would’ve used more teamwork.”
There’s just something so simple yet deeply hilarious about everyday observations like this, and they are sprinkled generously in this story.
I really enjoyed the way Gregory gives us the idea of power. I know I’ve dreamed of being able to move things with my mind, or detect a lie, or even see the future. He gives us these amazing talents, but he also shows us that perhaps they aren’t as alluring as we might initially think. There are still struggles and heartbreak and heartache, even with these amazing abilities. Life, still requires a lot of work.
Even though Buddy can see the future, he can’t see all the details so misunderstandings create false understandings. And, just because you can see the future, doesn’t mean it changes anything.
“Everything he knows about the whirlpool of past and future tells him that the universe does not owe you anything and even if it did, it would never pay up.”
Because of this, Buddy simply stops talking much at all, terrified of what he may inadvertently let slip. So when he begins tearing apart and completing random construction projects around the house without a word of explanation, its difficult for his family to understand. Yet, there are various moments when other family members think that if Buddy would only help them see the future, their decisions would be easier. Buddy seems to be the only one with the knowledge of how heavy and hard the future can be.
Irene can detect when someone is lying. Even a small, harmless lie. So she doesn’t trust anyone. And can’t open herself up to intimate relationships. Hearing the lie, no matter how small, is sometimes more painful than not knowing it’s there at all.
Frankie can move objects. Except, only sometimes, and never when he wants to, and never when it’s important.
And then there’s Matty. Who can leave his body and see the world. Except, there’s a few embarrassing things that need to happen before he can actually do any of that.
I absolutely loved the use of Teddy in the story. Teddy is always more than he seems, or exactly what he seems. A conman, a huckster, a fast talker. He knows how to work people and get what he wants. His sleight of hand is what makes him so good. So, we don’t expect Gregory to use the same tricks in his writing to make us look one way, when really he is leading us another. As the story unfolds, we are more and more confident of where the story is leading, yet when the pages are complete, it is exactly what we expected and at the same time, not at all what we expected. It’s a magic trick in plot. And it’s genius.
I really like the way the story is developed. Using the memories of each character to help us learn the past, as well as each characters current point of view creates a lush, deep, and rich view of the entire family. We get a sense of who they are and more importantly, why they are the way they are. We also get to see pieces of the plot unfold, knowing the missteps being planted along the way, unknowingly by each family member. But, again, the real delight is watching these plans hatch and being just as surprised by the outcome as they are. It truly is masterful story telling.
This is a quirky, fun, wonderful novel about family. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a funny, entertaining story! I loved it, and will revisit the Telemachus family in the future.
Thank you so much First To Read, Penguin Random House and AA Knopf, for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was so good! Such a well-told story of a functioning dysfunctional family.
The Telemachus Family has special gifts - Teddy has slight of hand, Maureen has true psychic powers and the ability to do many other "spoonbending" things. Teddy and Maureen have three children: Irene is a human lie-detector, Frankie can control objects with is mind, and Buddy can predict the future. These five family members were collectively known as The Amazing Telemachus Family back in the 70's until their act was debunked on The Mike Douglas Show. While there are some flashbacks to the 70's, the majority of this book takes place in the 90's where the children are grown and Irene and Frankie have children of their own.
So here is the thing - they really do have some amazing abilities and can you even imagine living life like Irene must? She can detect lies each and every time someone speaks to her! From simple things (this pie is delicious) to the heavy stuff. Irene's family has learned to answer her questions with other questions and/or saying something truthful that doesn't directly answer the question she asked. But that is a lot of work.
So everything I've laid out here is just backstory isn't even the meat of the story. I haven't even touched on that. This book was endearing and I loved every minute I spent with the Telemachus family. Every character was fleshed out - and there are quite a few characters, but not so many that there is ever any confusion.
There were a few parts of the book where some of the fat could have been trimmed with a good editor, but all in all I loved it!
The Telemachus Family has special gifts - Teddy has slight of hand, Maureen has true psychic powers and the ability to do many other "spoonbending" things. Teddy and Maureen have three children: Irene is a human lie-detector, Frankie can control objects with is mind, and Buddy can predict the future. These five family members were collectively known as The Amazing Telemachus Family back in the 70's until their act was debunked on The Mike Douglas Show. While there are some flashbacks to the 70's, the majority of this book takes place in the 90's where the children are grown and Irene and Frankie have children of their own.
So here is the thing - they really do have some amazing abilities and can you even imagine living life like Irene must? She can detect lies each and every time someone speaks to her! From simple things (this pie is delicious) to the heavy stuff. Irene's family has learned to answer her questions with other questions and/or saying something truthful that doesn't directly answer the question she asked. But that is a lot of work.
So everything I've laid out here is just backstory isn't even the meat of the story. I haven't even touched on that. This book was endearing and I loved every minute I spent with the Telemachus family. Every character was fleshed out - and there are quite a few characters, but not so many that there is ever any confusion.
There were a few parts of the book where some of the fat could have been trimmed with a good editor, but all in all I loved it!
I'm pretty judgmental about endings, (not that I can't actually write a book myself but......) but this ending pays off deliciously. This book was fantastic from start to finish. I would definitely recommend!
I was immediately attracted to the title (not going to lie, it totally made me think of that one scene in the Matrix), and the description sounded unique and interesting. Despite all this, I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this book, but in the end I am really happy I gave it a chance. Spoonbenders has a little bit of everything in it; family drama, magical abilities, mobsters, espionage, gambling, teenagers coming of age, time travel, and even a bit of romance (I think that’s everything? I feel like I missed something). It’s hard to believe all of that managed to get crammed into a book and still have it make sense, but somehow it all works.
It took me a little while to settle into Spoonbenders, and I don’t mean that in a negative way, Daryl Gregory just has a writing style that leads to a natural buildup of the plot and character development. All the little details made the world and events feel that much more real and believable.
Spoonbenders follows the life and adventures of the Telemachus family, all of whom are gifted in one way or another. But not gifted in the normal sense. They’re all psychic. Each family member has their own distinct ability, with only a couple exceptions (which become obvious as you read the book).
I have to say that I was really surprised by the complexity of this novel; and how well written it was. Everything flowed naturally, and the characters were interesting, if sometimes aggravating (but isn’t that always the way with family?).
Teddy Telemachus was simultaneously my favorite and least favorite character. While he acts as a psychic, he’s actually just a con-man. I cannot even begin to describe just how funny I found that to be. He ends up marrying a true psychic, whom their children inherit abilities from. Teddy’s long term plot was probably the best for its humor value if nothing else. The reason I found his character hard to deal with was sometime he reminded me of Willy Loman, one of my least favorite characters in literary history (I’m not saying Death of a Salesman was bad, merely stating that I dislike the main character). Unlike Willy though, Teddy doesn’t ever seem to give up, and while he may not have been the best dad around (just ask Irene) he did at least do the best he could with what he had (even if nobody else agreed that it was actually the best).
There’s a whole litany of supporting characters, being that the Telemachus family isn’t exactly small. There’s Teddy and Maureen (Maureen being deceased for a decent amount of the book, sadly), and then their kids, Irene, Frankie (as well as his wife), and Buddy, and then there’s grandchildren too, but Matty is the only one that the novel really focuses on. The family dynamics on the whole were pretty interesting to watch; who could rely on whom, which one of them was a trouble maker, how they handled getting around the living lie detector (aka Irene) and so on.
The plot itself is fairly complex; with each character having their own plot going on simultaneously, and then eventually having them all weave together into one major plot and series of events. It was pretty brilliantly done, though I’ll admit I had to step back and take a couple of days to think about it all before I went and wrote my review. Complex stories do that to me; I love trying to put all the puzzle pieces together after the fact to see if they actually fit like we were told they did. In this case, I’m happy to say that all the pieces fit. It’s refreshing to see, and even more refreshing to read.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
It took me a little while to settle into Spoonbenders, and I don’t mean that in a negative way, Daryl Gregory just has a writing style that leads to a natural buildup of the plot and character development. All the little details made the world and events feel that much more real and believable.
Spoonbenders follows the life and adventures of the Telemachus family, all of whom are gifted in one way or another. But not gifted in the normal sense. They’re all psychic. Each family member has their own distinct ability, with only a couple exceptions (which become obvious as you read the book).
I have to say that I was really surprised by the complexity of this novel; and how well written it was. Everything flowed naturally, and the characters were interesting, if sometimes aggravating (but isn’t that always the way with family?).
Teddy Telemachus was simultaneously my favorite and least favorite character. While he acts as a psychic, he’s actually just a con-man. I cannot even begin to describe just how funny I found that to be. He ends up marrying a true psychic, whom their children inherit abilities from. Teddy’s long term plot was probably the best for its humor value if nothing else. The reason I found his character hard to deal with was sometime he reminded me of Willy Loman, one of my least favorite characters in literary history (I’m not saying Death of a Salesman was bad, merely stating that I dislike the main character). Unlike Willy though, Teddy doesn’t ever seem to give up, and while he may not have been the best dad around (just ask Irene) he did at least do the best he could with what he had (even if nobody else agreed that it was actually the best).
There’s a whole litany of supporting characters, being that the Telemachus family isn’t exactly small. There’s Teddy and Maureen (Maureen being deceased for a decent amount of the book, sadly), and then their kids, Irene, Frankie (as well as his wife), and Buddy, and then there’s grandchildren too, but Matty is the only one that the novel really focuses on. The family dynamics on the whole were pretty interesting to watch; who could rely on whom, which one of them was a trouble maker, how they handled getting around the living lie detector (aka Irene) and so on.
The plot itself is fairly complex; with each character having their own plot going on simultaneously, and then eventually having them all weave together into one major plot and series of events. It was pretty brilliantly done, though I’ll admit I had to step back and take a couple of days to think about it all before I went and wrote my review. Complex stories do that to me; I love trying to put all the puzzle pieces together after the fact to see if they actually fit like we were told they did. In this case, I’m happy to say that all the pieces fit. It’s refreshing to see, and even more refreshing to read.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks