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Standard Deviation

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Standard Deviation

By: Katherine Heiny
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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About this listen

A divinely funny novel about the challenges of a good marriage, the delight and heartache of raising children, and the irresistible temptation to wonder about the path not taken.

Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting.

In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?

©2017 Katherine Heiny (P)2017 Random House Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Romantic Comedy Marriage Comedy Funny Witty Heartfelt Feel-Good

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Critic reviews

"Audra Daltry is a singular creation - a character so funny, so appealing, so sure that she can change the world for her family that she will jump right off the page and take up permanent residence in your heart. Standard Deviation is a marvel." (Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life)
"A book so funny and perceptive I want to be friends with its author." (Laline Paull, author of The Bees)
"I have been a fan of Katherine Heiny's writing for years but my adoration of her reaches a new apex with this, her first novel, Standard Deviation. It's an irresistibly charming novel about age-old institutions: marriage and parenting. But Heiny's brilliantly drawn characters and her keen insights make both topics feel brand new. A delightful, refreshing novel that illuminates the world of complicated relationships." (Elin Hilderbrand, author of Here's to Us)
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I enjoyed listening to this story, well read by Cassandra Campbell. It’s an acutely well-observed account of everyday family life when the family have adjusted to the differences that come with having a neuro-atypical child. It’s at times laugh-out-loud funny (Audra is one of the great comic characters) and unexpectedly moving. For me it’s not in the canon of literary classics but definitely worth listening to and I will go and explore other novels by Katherine Heiny.

Enjoyable, funny and poignant

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Katherine heiney has such an understated style, she observes the small details and manages to convey such huge issues through those details. the bitter sweet, happy sad emotions of parent hood and relationships. The book made me smile, and ache in equal measure; the double entry porn (or is it accountancy) joke made me laugh for days, although none of my friends got the joke as I tried to retell it.😊

If your kids are successful and well integrated, this book may not resonate. But parents of kids who find it hard to make friends and will only eat certain things will feel their pain, love and frustration reflected here. The saddest thing of all is that Katherine Heiney has only written 3 books and now I have read them all!

the Jane Austen of modern America

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I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, especially the observational aspect- something soothing in that. The characters were interesting and believable and it gives a glimpse into the everyday living with neurodivergence, as well as the ups and downs of communication in relationships.

Enjoyable, non- dramatic, realistic

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I loved the characters in this funny family story. The humour reminded me of Nora Ephron.

So funny

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Great narration, attention to life's details and it draws you into the characters' worlds so that I couldn't stop listening after a while. Persevere if you feel it's slow to start with. it's worth it

A slow burn

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I loved this book! Fascinating and funny characters. Well written and I loved the detail that was just enough to be really descriptive but the story kept moving. I loved the audible recording too, beautifully read.

Hilarious

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I love Ann Tyler and this is very reminiscent of her exquisitely observed family drama, with some moments that made me laugh out loud.

A truly, lovely book

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A funny and feel good novel about a married couple and their son. I really enjoyed it, the narration was excellent but I agree that the story appeared to end abruptly. Perhaps there might be a sequel. Loved the stack contrast in personalities between the couple, literally chalk and cheese but they make it work - like lots of people. Definitely made me smile and laugh out loud.

Everyone knows at least one “Audra”!

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This book has happiness and sadness in equal measure. A couple resigned to having to deal with their son’s Asperger’s. They do not seem suited at all, yet they are united by the need to embrace their son’s journey through the modern world and extend that to compassion for the world and themselves.

A glimpse into the lives of others

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I wonder if I would have enjoyed the book more if it had a different narrator. The voice she used for Audra made it sound like she despised the character so it was very easy to dislike her. And I find it hard to really engage with a novel where I can’t like the main protagonists. Perhaps that’s the point-people who are suffering may be more in survival mode than able to display their nobility. But I find people in real life are far more likeable and vulnerable than this. It felt like an artificial exercise to create comedy. I shall be returning to Trollope and swerving Heiny in future.

Occasionally laugh out loud funny.

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