Reviewed by Ester

After reading only three pages of Andrew Kaufman’s Born Weird, I pronounced this would be one of my favorite reads of 2013 – with an exclamation point!  A bold statement, but fortunately for me, I wasn’t wrong.

The Weird siblings all got a special power at birth from their grandmother, but these blessings turned out to be curses. When grandmother (“The Shark”) decides it is time for her to die in two weeks, Annie is the chosen one to get all the siblings together, so their “Blursings” can be lifted the moment grandmother takes her final breath. Not an easy task, because after their dad died, all of them went their own way and haven’t been in contact with each other since.

What happens when Annie gathers them up, one by one? And will they get to “The Shark” in time for her to lift their “blursings”?

This book is probably not for everyone, with all its strangeness, and well, weirdness, bordering against the impossible and improbable many times. But there lies the strength of Kaufman: within the absurdity he nails the reality of family ties, relationships and being (only) human.

So, in conclusion, what you get is a ridiculously funny, ludicrous-but-true-in-spirit account of an incredible road trip the Weird siblings and you are not likely to forget.