I picked this up because I really liked Haddon’s other book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, but it really couldn’t be more different. This is the story of a very dysfunctional family: a father slowly going crazy as he contemplates his own mortality; a mother having an affair with her husband’s ex-colleague; a gay son driving away his boyfriend with his fear of intimacy; and a daughter who can’t make up her mind whether to get married. Two things I disliked about the book. One was that there are a huge (140+) number of very short chapters that jump rapidly from one point of view to the next, so that I felt completely unsettled as I was reading. And the other was that I didn’t think any of the characters really changed or grew as the story progressed; in fact, their significant others made things all too easy for them, so they didn’t have to make real decisions. Also, there is one memorable scene that nearly made me physically ill when I read it. I will add the caveat that the other members of my book club like A Spot of Bother a great deal more than I did.

I picked up this book on a whim because I liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time so much. Mark Haddon has a special talent for taking you inside the perfectly logical thought processes of his characters. When you realize that the character is completely unhinged, it hits fairly close to home. I read this book wanting to know “what happens” but I came out thinking a lot about myself. A very fun, sometimes disturbing, and always thought-provoking ride.

This was a pleasant and quick read with a sort-of chaotic and fun plot. Not much meat to it, but that little glimmer of madness makes the caper stick a little bit more than it might otherwise.