The Petty Details of So-And-So's Life

by Camilla Gibb

Book Overview

With her second novel, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, award-winning and celebrated author Camilla Gibb probes the bruises of family with humanity, hilarity, and a keen eye for the grotesque to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385658028
• ISBN13: 9780385658027
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Doubleday Canada
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Life is Petty

The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, by Camilla Gibb If great writing ultimately exposes the true condition of human existence - no holds barred, then Camilla Gibb's stunning novel, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, succeeds on a grand scale. One needn't search this book for those sought after kernels of truth - they are all abound...the good, the bad and the really funny. The book is about the painful and lonely struggle of two essentially abandoned siblings, Emma and Blue Taylor, bound together on both a psychic and emotional level that is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. But is shared pain enough to support them on their quests to emerge from the ruins of Dysfunction? Ms. Gibb's characters lead the reader on a hard-edged journey of the picaresque that explores the two rather disparate roads taken. Emma battles to succeed in the comfort of upper class life - the right man, the nice house and a promising academic career. Meanwhile, Blue, the tattoo artist, discovers meaning - at least for a while, but in a far less respectable venue. How does strip-joint sound? But the haunting echoes of their past are never far away; Deranged Dad wastes away in the junkyard, pathetically clinging to delusions of grandeur and mom is an ex-hippie who personifies all of the failed ideals of the Peace and Love Generation. Everybody has skeletons in their closets, but what do you when yours are out on the loose? Welcome to a day in the life of the Taylor kids. Gibb's writing is clear and crisp, with hilarious bits strewn throughout the novel. Let's face it - sometimes pathetic is just plain funny, it's also a nice break from the intensity of a novel that never lets down. Petty Details is the voice of the disaffected, the disenfranchised, the distressed...it is the voice of humanity.David HamburgMontreal

Beauty in the details

From their youth to their young adulthood the main characters, had to suffer through horrible family relationships and experiences, and yet they salvage from this and from each other, what they can in attempts to find comfort and love. Their lives are told as a collection of details – little events and stories that shaped who they were and how they would cope. The characters always seem to be on the verge of overcoming their history and regardless of the misfortune they experience, they strive to continue. Really that is what the sum of life is. I thought it was wonderfully written and poetic. I grew to love the characters and I didn’t want it to end. I highly recommend this novel.

I love this author!

This novel is fantastic! I read it in 5 hours. Talk about not being able to put a book down. The characters feel like people you know, or at least want to know. The author says things that I've thought, and puts those thoughts into words, beautiful words. The details 'petty' or not, are fabulously told.I only hope Camilla Gibb keeps writing!

Thoroughly Recommend

Could n't put it down!Looking forward to the next book.

Outstanding book

Can't say I relate much to the characters but still a very good yarn. Not action packed, but stayed awake all night to read it.