If you need to have a defined plot and a satisfying ending to enjoy a work of fiction, this is not the novel for you. But Heiny managed to capture and sustain my attention by imbuing her casual study of characters with cleverly structured humor, which is evenly employed from start to finish. Just like the main character, Graham, I was equally exasperated with and captivated by his loquacious wife, Audra. Their hectic, loud and quirky life with a 10-year-old son and a host of friends, houseguests, neighbors, casual acquaintances and crises never got boring and, in my opinion, the ending was just as it should be. ( )

I had this on my to-read list for a long time and when I circled back I was a little bit apprehensive because the good reads rating was lower than I expected. I was so happy I picked it up thought. This is a really funny, thoughtful book. I enjoyed it thoroughly and reached for it over an over wondering what was going to come next. I will definitely read more Heiny. I appreciate her taking on big topics and I loved her sense of humor. ( )

Just remember you’ll never get the hours it takes to read this book back. Ever. Again. ( )

Katherine Heiny’s debut novel has been sitting on my self for a while now. I loved Early Morning Riser and seeing that she has a new short story collection out, I knew I wouldn’t run out of her books to read if I read it. (I really don’t like having zero books of my favourite authors to read, even though it’s really just delayed pleasure). I think knowing Heiny’s brilliance in making the mundane interesting and funny helped when reading Standard Deviation as there is a lot going on in different directions. From the big to the small, I was never quite sure where this books and its characters would lead me next. From origami to United Nations Day, this book covers the day-to-day life of a family.
Except the family involved is not quite the average family. Graham is married to Audra now, but used to be married to Elspeth. Graham and Audra have a son, Matthew, who is on the autism spectrum. Matthew’s current fascination is origami and he wants to join an origami club with strict requirements of baseline knowledge. He would also be the youngest person there by several decades. That’s just one of the things happening in their lives. Graham, a bit older than Audra, is relatively close to the mean, being fairly quiet and enjoying cooking. But Audra is at least one to two standard deviations away. She knows nearly everybody (not an easy feat in New York City) and is able to make complete strangers friends in a matter of minutes, and dig out the most random facts about them in under an hour. Audra is very talkative and generally doesn’t apply filters. In contrast, Elspeth is very quiet and reserved, neat and tidy. Audra decides that she really should be friends with Graham’s ex and manages to strike up an unlikely relationship. As Graham sees them together, he sees their two extremes and wonders about his choice. He sees Audra’s faults but also her good points, and must wrestle internally to determine to what he wants. A quiet life? One of unexpected colours?
While Graham narrates, it’s clearly Audra that is the star here. Without her wit and curiosity for life, the narrative would be much duller. Audra can come out with the most random questions and observations at times, but nobody gets angry with her inquisitiveness. She’s exceptionally kind (the family have several houseguests in the novel, mainly invited by Audra) and she is openly fierce in her love for Matthew. Supporting Matthew takes both Graham and Audra to unexpected places, such as an origami convention and a fishing trip. There are also serious moments in the novel, ranging from anger to sorrow. However, the best moments are when Heiny observes daily life and finds interesting observations with a lot of humour. You could say that not a lot happens, but this novel, like Early Morning Riser, is about the fun in the smaller stuff. Memorable characters and lines had had me laughing make Standard Deviation a stellar read. ( )

This was a rather strange book, one of those ones with not very much plot and even less resolution, but I quite enjoyed it. ( )