Standard Deviation

A novel

By: Katherine Heiny

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

TheSkimm’s Best of Skimm Reads
NPR’s Guide to Great Reads
The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction of the Year
Minnesota Public Radio’s The Best Books to Give and Get: Fiction Picks of the Year

An uproarious novel ("Both heart-piercing and, crucially, very funny." —Louise Erdrich, The New York Times) from the celebrated author of Single, Carefree, Mellow 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.

When Graham Cavanaugh divorced his first wife it was to marry his girlfriend, Audra, a woman as irrepressible as she is spontaneous and fun. But, Graham learns, life with Audra can also be exhausting, constantly interrupted by chatty phone calls, picky-eater houseguests, and invitations to weddings of people he’s never met. Audra firmly believes that through the sheer force of her personality she can overcome the most socially challenging interactions, shepherding her son through awkward playdates and origami club, and even deciding to establish a friendship with Graham’s first wife, Elspeth. Graham isn't sure he understands why Audra longs to be friends with the woman he divorced. After all, former spouses are hard to categorize—are they enemies, old flames, or just people you know really, really well? And as Graham and Audra share dinners, holidays, and late glasses of wine with his first wife he starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did I make the right choice? Is there a right choice? A hilarious and rueful debut novel of love, marriage, infidelity, and origami, Standard Deviation never deviates from the superb.

Critic reviews

"A funny, bittersweet story of marriage, full of regrets and temptations."
—People

"Katherine Heiny marries wit and wonder in Standard Deviation."
—Sloane Crosley, Vanity Fair

"The Vacationers meets Nora Ephron. Warning: you will laugh in public."
—The Skimm

"Katherine Heiny's debut novel is not only one of the funniest books you will ever read, but true and poignant, too. And Audra is one of the most memorable characters ever to leap from the pages of a book."
—John Harding, The Daily Mail

"Warmhearted… Dishes up amusing riffs on marriage, misfits, and finicky eaters, plus some wonderfully on-target descriptions… Explores the complexities and ambivalences that color even our most central relationships… This book is about a marriage under stress—though Heiny keeps it bubbly, evoking the smart, stylish wit of Laurie Colwin, Nora Ephron, and Maria Semple… [She] clearly has what it takes to join the elite coterie of witty social satirists who turn out smart, lively charmers."
—Heller McAlpin, NPR

"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

"Wonderful… It is easier to catalog this novel’s individual sly charms than it is to nail down the essential, quicksilver thing that makes it such a success."
—Lydia Kiesling, The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderful… To spend 300-plus pages with Heiny’s wry voice and colorful cast of characters is to love them, truly. An amusingly engaging take on long-term marriage with a lovably loopy character at its center."
—Kirkus, starred review

Excellent book

This audio book captures the ups and downs of life with poignancy and humor. The narration is delightful. A very enjoyable audio book.

Hilarious

This was the funniest most heart warming novel I ever listened to. I laughed outloud!

fanciful Story about marriage

The characters were interesting. I enjoyed the interactions Gram had with his son and secretary. But many of the situations dud not seem believable wirh the adults.

Narration is pitch perfect! Great story!

Such an enjoyable story. Made me laugh and broke my heart a little bit. Glad I listened to this one - the narrator was terrific!

Lacking in plot but....

I was reading this for a book club this month, not my preferred style of writing. I felt it was lacking in a plot so it was hard to get behind the characters. I did think the authors humor was nice and made for a few good chuckles. Cassandra Campbell did an amazing performance specifically of Audra.

I love this narrator!

I found this book by simply going down the list of books she narrates & even though the story line didn't immediately grab be I knew she would make it work. This story might have been a little work too, a little mundane but again, the way it's absurdity mixed with (yes, some people must live this way,) is delivered totally pulls it off.

What Is Normal Anyway??

I don't know which I loved more--Heiny's sparkling writing or Campbell's perfect delivery of the material. Campbell was spot on with her timing and voicing of all these unusual characters. In many ways she made the book for me.

This story is funny--incredibly funny--and it's also unsettling and sad in parts. I think you will probably smile a good deal of the time you are listening. I also occasionally winced, cringed, guffawed and laughed right out loud. The dialogue was fantastic. The internal thoughts of the characters added so much depth to the story. These are characters that grew on me gradually and by the end of the story I felt I really knew them.

Heiny tackled complex topics of parenthood, marriage, friendship and fitting in--or really in this book not fitting in--but connecting with others all the same. To me, the story was a bit all over the place and I wondered if it might end up just being a simple laugh-fest. Then with the final chapter Heiny pulled it all together and catapulted this into one of my favorite recent listens. Give it time, for me it was worth it.

This book explores eccentricity, diversity and the outliers in our lives. It also casts an eye toward extreme behaviors that have become norms in our modern world. I thought it was terrific. Be aware, considerable frank talk and outrageous behavior ahead.

Surprising

This book was surprising in its depth dealing with the increasingly common situation of 2nd chance modern marriages, age gaps, and a child with special needs in the mix. But even more surprising was the many times I laughed out loud in the strangest of places and situations.
And, as always, Cassandra Campbell's narration was superb. An excellent choice.

Ho hum

Kept waiting for it to go somewhere. The only thing that kept me listening was the narrator.

Funny and real

If you have to have car chases, or spies or wealth or sex to think a book is entertaining then skip this one. A funny well written tale about funny normal people you probably know