Book Discussion - we are all completely beside ourselves
we are all completely beside ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler
Book Lovers Rating 4.8 Stars
Published May 20, 2013
Winner of the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Prize
Nominated for the Man Booker Prize and for the Nebula Award for best Novel
“Language does this to our memories — simplifies, solidifies, codifies, mummifies. An oft-told story is like a photograph in a family album; eventually, it replaces the moment it was meant to capture.”
— Karen Joy Fowler, we are all completely beside ourselves
Discussion Questions
(Discussion questions provided by the publisher)
1. Early on in We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, the character Rosemary Cooke tells the reader that she will start her story "in the middle." Why is it important to her to skip the beginning?
2. Rosemary recounts many memories of the chimpanzee Fern and their brief life together. How were she and Fern, in the language of the novel, "Same" and "NotSame"? What does their relationship suggest about the compatibility of humans and primates? How are humans different from other animals?
3. How did being co-raised with a chimpanzee impact Rosemary's development? In what ways was she different from other, "normal" children? How does she still differ from them to this day?
4. Consider Rosemary's father and mother. Are they good parents? Should they have handled Fern's leaving any differently? If so, how?
5. Each member of the Cooke family was dramatically-indeed, traumatically-affected by the loss of Fern. Did they share a personal sense of guilt? Of regret? Of responsibility for what happened? If so, how did these emotions manifest themselves in each family member? How do their responses enrich our understanding of these people?
6. What is your opinion of Rosemary's brother, Lowell Cooke? Are his extreme views and actions at all justified? Does he truly have Fern's well-being at heart?
7. How does Harlow Fielding's whirlwind entrance into Rosemary Cooke's world alter Rosemary's trajectory through life?
8. Think about the significance of memory and storytelling in the novel. How is Rosemary's memory-and, consequently, her narrative-affected by the emotional trauma she has experienced?
9. Consider Harlow Fielding and Ezra Metzger's failed attempt to liberate monkeys from the primate center, both the motivations of these co-conspirators and the outcome itself. Was their mission in any way an admirable act? How were Harlow and Ezra's intentions different or similar to Lowell's?
10. Do you think Rosemary comes to find peace with her family history by the end of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves?
11. Is animal experimentation ever justified? If so, under what circumstances?
Additional Resources
The Other Sister, New York Times Sunday book review by Barbara Kingsolver, June 6, 2013
Karen Joy Fowler In conversation with Hilary Harper at The Wheeler Centre presented in partnership with Brisbane Writers Festival.
we are all completely beside ourselves
Digging Deeper
Books and Other Resources on Related Issues
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Other Books by Karen Joy Fowler
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