by Betsy Burton
Not many books can make me laugh out loud at four in the morning, but this one did. Meet Don, a distinguished geneticist high on the Asperger’s continuum who’s decided it’s time he found a wife—using scientific methods, of course. Meet Rosie, a feminist, extroverted barmaid who’s searching for the identity of her biologic father. Meet Gene and Claudia, two psychologists attempting to co-exist peacefully in an open marriage.
Told in the pitch-perfect voice of someone wired “differently” who has coped with his differences through his intellect, compulsive interest in his career, and an even more compulsively scheduled life, this is a love story that is also a tale of coming of age in middle age.
It is crisply written, the characters are complex and fully conceived, the dialogue is both clever and compelling, as is the plot. But most of all it is hilarious. Uproariously so. Save Simsion’s novel for the aftermath of some personal disaster when you’re sure nothing will ever make you laugh again. The Rosie Project will, I guarantee.
– The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, Simon & Schuster, $24
Editor’s note: Graeme Simsion will be at TKE on Saturday, December 7, at 7 p.m. to read from and sign a staff favorite we’ve picked as best stocking stuffer of the year.
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