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Where'd You Go, Bernadette

by Maria Semple (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 26,387 ratings · 5,260 reviews

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward:...more

Hardcover, 324 pages

Published August 14th 2012 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (first published August 1st 2012)

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple (Goodreads Author)

Release date: Apr 02, 2013

Bernadette Fox has vanished.

When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligen…more

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Sep 04, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, oh-its-love

A douche canoe that I (probably shouldn't have) dated for a couple months a few years ago once told me that I didn't like Glee because I didn't understand satire. I'd like to hand him this book and say, "Suck on it, asshat."

I suppose that's an entirely different story. The point is, I loved this book. It's sharp, witty, heartwarming, and entirely entertaining. Of course; it came from someone involved with Arrested Development. Should I expect any less?

The first three-fourths of this book are tol...more A douche canoe that I (probably shouldn't have) dated for a couple months a few years ago once told me that I didn't like Glee because I didn't understand satire. I'd like to hand him this book and say, "Suck on it, asshat."

I suppose that's an entirely different story. The point is, I loved this book. It's sharp, witty, heartwarming, and entirely entertaining. Of course; it came from someone involved with Arrested Development. Should I expect any less?

The first three-fourths of this book are told in the form of email correspondence, magazine articles, even doctors' bills purportedly strung together by fifteen-year-old Bee in an attempt to tell her mother Bernadette's story. Bernadette is the quintessential misunderstood genius. In her thirties, she became one of the few female architects to stand out from the crowd and was eventually awarded a MacArthur genius grant. It's when a project particularly near-and-dear to her heart is destroyed that Bernadette's psyche begins to fray. She and her husband, Elgie, move to Seattle when he takes a job at Microsoft. They live in an abandoned home for girls and their daughter overcomes a congenital heart condition to succeed brilliantly at a charter school, whose wannabe-upper-crust parental committee resents Bernadette's refusal to take part in the community. Bernadette, for her part, is still struggling to get over the heartbreak of her previous life and has developed an agoraphobia so severe that she has hired a virtual personal assistant to take care of her daily errands from India.

As the book begins, Bee is cashing in on the promise her parents made that, if she achieves straight A's, she can have any gift she likes. Her request is for a family trip to Antarctica, a request that sends Bernadette's anxiety skyrocketing. Meanwhile, Bernadette's catty neighbor Audrey is declaring war on Bernadette and her blackberry bushes. Picture the biggest busybody from Desperate Housewives, if you can. I don't know specific characters, but that's what Audrey is. She's a busybody who erroneously believes that her obnoxious behavior is beneficial to and appreciated by everyone else. She wants to host a bruncheon (I don't know if that's a word, but I'm coining it now) to woo upper crust parents to the charter school and Bernadette's blackberry bushes are interfering. To say that Audrey has it out for Bernadette is an understatement, but when the bruncheon ends in catastrophe things begin to spiral out of control for Bernadette. Elgie, concerned that his wife's anxiety and paranoia have become larger than life, attempts to stage an intervention for Bernadette. Unfortunately, Bernadette disappears instead and it's up to Bee to find her.

This book pokes fun at the culture of Microsoft and at people who desperately want to be in the next highest social strata without becoming too mean, but where Semple really excels is in her unfolding of Bernadette. There are certainly aspects of the plot that require some suspension of disbelief, but Bernadette is such a great character. She tried keeping it together but at some point, she snapped and has completely folded into herself in anxiety and desperation. She hates Seattle, the parents at Bee's school, her husband's company, everything around her...except Bee. She loves Bee desperately and wants to do anything she can for her daughter. At the same time, she's an artist whose stunted mental health has fried her ability and opportunity to create.

What else can I say? This book isn't high-minded literature, but it's not really trying to be. It's a send-up of a wacky, soapish storyline that manages to stay completely engrossing -- I couldn't put it down.

And it's touching! It's ultimately about self-acceptance -- finding what makes you happy and learning how to balance that with the expectations of others that you can't shake off. And there's this quote, which I loved: "This is why you must love life: one day you're offering up your social security number to the Russian Mafia; two weeks later you're using the word calve as a verb."

I dare say that if you can't appreciate it, then maybe you just don't get satire ;)

(I kid, I kid.)(less)

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Jul 01, 2012 Travis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What we have here is a satirical epistolary novel about a bunch of whiny one percenters in Seattle.

Ms. Semple is sending up Seattle elites, which here seem to be typified by Bernadette's husband Elgie, a granola eating, public transport using, bike riding, Microsoft employee with a genius IQ. She also sets her sights on the students and parents of a Montessori-style preparatory school. I don't feel a particular need to explain what happens, because it's pretty well-traveled stuff.

Where BERNADE...more What we have here is a satirical epistolary novel about a bunch of whiny one percenters in Seattle.

Ms. Semple is sending up Seattle elites, which here seem to be typified by Bernadette's husband Elgie, a granola eating, public transport using, bike riding, Microsoft employee with a genius IQ. She also sets her sights on the students and parents of a Montessori-style preparatory school. I don't feel a particular need to explain what happens, because it's pretty well-traveled stuff.

Where BERNADETTE sets itself apart is the storytelling style. The story here takes the form of a packet of documents that Bernadette's daughter has prepared after Bernadette disappears. These include emails between Elgie's assistant and a disgruntled neighbor, emails between Bernadette and her Indian assistant Manjula, police reports, magazine articles, etc. These documents have a kind of zingy, lighthearted, ironic quality about them, and it makes for an energetic and enjoyable story. Narration between the documents is provided in brief snippets by Bernadette's precocious daughter Bee.

Alas, there are many problems, and the book never lives up to its promise. Semple is trying to have it both ways. Bernadette, for example is a ruthlessly satirized Type A East Coast transplant. We're supposed to find her ridiculous, but we're also expected to fall for her. Semple wants us to believe she's a genius because she won a MacArthur genius grant, even though there's very little else in the way of supporting evidence. She wants us to find Bernadette mysterious and admirable. But I was never really drawn in by Bernadette's positive qualities, or able to find them at all. This wouldn't have been a problem for me if it wasn't so clear that I was supposed to like her.

Also, the title and jacket copy of this book seem to promise that it's about the mysterious disappearance of, and search for, Bernadette. The problem is that Bernadette never really disappears. She leaves briefly, but her reasons for leaving are pretty clear, and it's not hard to guess where she went--the setting of Antarctica, promised by the icy mountains on the cover and tons and tons of buildup throughout, might provide a clue.

But the book suffers the most when the narration switches to Bee full time after the disappearance. This switch is somewhat painstakingly explained, but it felt lazy to me. There had to be a way to keep the form that had been so successful for the first two thirds of the book for the final act. It felt like Semple was trying to write a book that was zany, unique, and inventive, but also perfectly conventional, with all the benefits of both storytelling styles. In my mind, this book depended on the inventiveness of its epistolary style, and abandoning it was disaster.

All in all, worth reading. This is the kind of book that very well could have left me shaking my head and wondering how the author pulled it off, if only she had pulled it off. Ah, well.

I received this in ARC form from the Nervous Breakdown book club, and I hope they dress it up a bit for the hardcover. I think it would be better if the documents appeared in different forms and fonts, if Elgie's handwritten letter appeared handwritten, etc.

I can't close this review without saying that this book's cover is unfortunate. While I did have issues here, this book represents a serious effort, and it deserved a serious cover.

It will be interesting to see what Maria Semple does next. (less)

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Apr 15, 2013 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I figure my best hope of getting more readers than the Cubs have victories is to mention straight away Maria Semple’s bona fides as a satirist. So here it is: she wrote for Arrested Development. Her talent for skewering plays out well in book form, too, as it turns out. Bernadette, the protagonist, is creative, whip-smart, and now that her daughter, Bee, is past some pretty serious childhood health issues, able to devote herself almost entirely to snarky send-ups. The targets are primarily from...more I figure my best hope of getting more readers than the Cubs have victories is to mention straight away Maria Semple’s bona fides as a satirist. So here it is: she wrote for Arrested Development. Her talent for skewering plays out well in book form, too, as it turns out. Bernadette, the protagonist, is creative, whip-smart, and now that her daughter, Bee, is past some pretty serious childhood health issues, able to devote herself almost entirely to snarky send-ups. The targets are primarily from Seattle where they live. Beyond the standard subjects of grunge, rain, coffee and Microsoft (where husband, Elgie, is an engineering superstar), there are also the cliquish and bothersome moms from Bee’s school. Complications arise, though, wouldn’t you know.

Much of the book is back-story told in epistolary form. There are email exchanges between Bernadette and an online personal assistant, notes from Bee’s school, several catty moms opining about Bee’s parents, and various other documents of a plot-spoiling nature. From these we learn that Bee is the most outstanding student in her 8th grade class, Bernadette was an award-winning architect in earlier days, Elgie gave the 4th most popular TED talk ever, they’re planning a family trip to Antarctica to see penguins, and the gnats (as Bernadette refers to the busybody moms from the school) are out of control. The list of problems is a long one, too: Bernadette has lost her professional mojo, Elgie is married to his job, one of the gnats becomes Elgie’s admin, Bernadette has become over-reliant on her personal assistant, and another gnat has brought trumped up charges against Bernadette. Breaking points were reached. Near perfect storm status was achieved.

Bee narrates the story of her mom’s disappearance and the subsequent search. But it’s a disservice to go much deeper into the plot. Instead, I’ll mention the pleasure of the overall tone. For one thing, the social satire was done well. The supporting characters were revealed cleverly, with more than just their stereotypes to define them. It was also nice that we weren’t just told that Bernadette, Elgie and Bee were smart, we got to see the evidence of it as well. Another point in the book’s favor is that it had more than just humor going for it. There were also deeper probes into relationships for us to consider. Special mother-daughter bonds were handled deftly.

I have a friend or two out there (oddly enough, near broad-minded Boston (view spoiler)) who might be tempted to judge a book by its cover, and in this particular case assume “chick lit.” While it does have a female perspective, I personally wouldn’t defile it with such a label. If it’s smart, funny and uplifting, just enjoy it independent of classification, cover and commercial appeal.

It didn’t change my life (my new criterion for five stars), but it did lighten the load for a while. At the same time, there was more ballast than you’d expect from, say, Lucille Bluth, Lindsay and Maeby.
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Dec 07, 2012 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pearl Ruled: [WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?] by [[MARIA SEMPLE]]

Rating: 1.6* of five (p97)

The Book Description: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I first heard about this book, it sounded as though it might be just a story whose main point was to disparage Seattle. But although there is humor in the book that might seem to be at the expense of Seattle in particular, it could have been set any number of places. The main character, Bernardette, does go off on some diatribes, but it’s nothing more than the sort of complaining any urban dweller might do in any number of big cities. The books lampoons institutions such as private schools...more When I first heard about this book, it sounded as though it might be just a story whose main point was to disparage Seattle. But although there is humor in the book that might seem to be at the expense of Seattle in particular, it could have been set any number of places. The main character, Bernardette, does go off on some diatribes, but it’s nothing more than the sort of complaining any urban dweller might do in any number of big cities. The books lampoons institutions such as private schools (and their weird obsessive parental rituals), Microsoft culture (but this could just as easily have been the movie industry in L.A., or academia in any college town, or something else, somewhere else), and aggravating trials of everyday life such as 5-way streets and long traffic signals. She communicates her dismay at having to navigate around “runaways, drug addicts, and bums,” how one has to “step over them on your way in” to Nordstrom, or watch one of them at Starbucks “hogging the milk counter because he’s sprinkling free cinnamon on his head.” (My Starbucks in suburban L.A.is often out of cinnamon. Not saying for the same reason. But it’s suspicious.)

You pretty much get what the tone of the book will be on the first page with the announcement of Bee’s school’s motto: “a place where compassion, academics, and global connectitude join together to create civic-minded citizens of a sustainable and diverse planet.”

Bernadette’s target just happens to be Seattle because she’s unhappy in more general ways since her tech-star husband’s job at Microsoft brought them there. She’s suffered a couple of serious set-backs in her own career as a cutting-edge architect and has had to worry about the critical health issues of her daughter Bee. A crazy-quilt cast of characters unrolls from e-mails, articles, bulletins, receipts, and other types of correspondence and documents that form this epistolary novel: a consultant hired by Bee’s school to help it compete for “Mercedes parents,” enemy neighbors Bernadette calls “gnats,” husband Elgie’s “admin” at work who dispenses a lot of pop psychology learned at her “Victims Against Victimhood” group, Bernadette’s India-based virtual personal assistant, and a host of others . Bernadette is a pretty prickly character with a reputation among the other parents and various locals as being asocial and a little strange (deservedly). She has some run-ins with other people that cause more grief to herself than to them, and she’s hard to like at first. But when the sources of her anguish and dysfunction are revealed, I was surprised how much my feelings turned around.

The story is definitely entertaining. A series of tribulations finally results in Bernadette’s disappearance and her smart and determined teenage daughter Bee has to take the lead in trying to find her. While the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped for, it was a fun time, all in all. And there’s architecture! And Antarctica! What’s not to like?
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Dec 08, 2012 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: addictive, favorites, humor, satire, travel

Well, let this be a lesson to those who would open their mouths and spew venom into the world. I once wrote very publicly and loudly on this here Goodreads that I could never love a satire -- don't even remember which book I was reviewing*. The point is, this book has made me eat my words. This fucking book, man. I loved it. It's my cheese, my oreo cookie, my soft blanket on a cold winter's night, my let's pack everything up and head out for an adventure because FUCK YEAH WE'RE ALIVE. I'm so gla...more Well, let this be a lesson to those who would open their mouths and spew venom into the world. I once wrote very publicly and loudly on this here Goodreads that I could never love a satire -- don't even remember which book I was reviewing*. The point is, this book has made me eat my words. This fucking book, man. I loved it. It's my cheese, my oreo cookie, my soft blanket on a cold winter's night, my let's pack everything up and head out for an adventure because FUCK YEAH WE'RE ALIVE. I'm so glad I randomly picked this book up at my library. Like, last second, I was checking out and there it was, and I just grabbed it. Best last minute decision ever.

*Found it! And oh, of course it was a Waugh.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a modern day epistolary novel, but not like one of those ones you read as a teenager with like whiny emails and diary entries from lovelorn pimple-faces, it's like layers and layers of subtle genius. Bee is fifteen and loves her mother, her eccentric and troubled mother, who one day disappears. The book is a meta-compilation supposedly put together by Bee of emails, articles, and other assorted correspondences that tell the story of Bernadette: what made her who she is, and what led up to her disappearance. The first 75% of the book is just a delightful satire, on the wealthy and privileged, on the self-deluded and spiritually empty -- but what really makes it are the bits of real emotion that are constantly peeking through. This story genuinely made me feel things, and like I mean that it in all caps, FEEL THINGS. Plus, it's just wacky. Maria Semple used to work on Arrested Development, if that gives you some idea of what I mean by 'wacky.'

Now, just to warn you, I'm writing this all high off the ending (which was just fucking lovely), so I might be a bit biased, and you might end up reading it and being like, Ashley, what the fuck? Just keep that in mind. But to put it in frame of reference, I liked this book almost as much as I liked Ready Player One (and I fucking love Ready Player One), but it's a different kind of love.

I don't want to say anymore because I just want you to go read the book. I mean it. GO!

(less)

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Dec 16, 2012 Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book about Seattle "Subaru Parents" describes my life so chillingly accurately that I am now absolved of writing my own book about their Portland-counterparts' bat-shit antics. Favorites: "Suddenly, Audrey Griffin started running toward the car all stiff and out of rhythm. You could just tell she hadn't run in about ten years." -22. "Perhaps because we both went to prep school and Ivy League universities ourselves, we did not fetishize them like other Seattle parents." -43. "Wooowww," Audre...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, bea2012, dtb, fiction

When Bee gets a perfect report card, she reminds her parents that they promised her anything she wanted: and what she wants is a family trip to Antarctica. Thus begins this quirky novel about precocious Bee, her Microsoft-engineer and TED-star father, and her eccentric, misanthropic mother Bernadette. Bernadette was once a promising architect, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, but has become a recluse in Seattle, a city she hates, depending on a virtual assistant in India to do even t...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Sherry H rated it 4 of 5 stars

This isn't the type of book I EVER would have picked up without a little convincing. But a couple of my GR friends, whose opinions I always trust, recently wrote glowing reviews of this book. And my brilliant friends were exactly right - what a gem!

From the beginning, we know that Bernadette is crazy - not just "say inappropriate things" crazy, or "take your child on vacation to Antarctica" crazy, but "involuntarily committed to a mental hospital" crazy. Through a series of articles, emails, sch...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Jessamyn Ayers rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Given the multitude of positive reviews I had read,I was eager to tear into this book, but I never felt like it took off. Bernadette's voice is sharp and witty which I completely appreciated; about three-quarters of the way through the book, though, the other characters try to get her committed to a psychiatric hospital. By designating her unique and highly intelligent main character as crazy, I imagine Semple was trying to impugn the other characters but the way Semple works with it made me que...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Meghan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my favorite book that I have read in a long while. Is five stars sort of ambitious? IT WOULD BE EXCEPT THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK I HAVE READ IN A LONG LONG WHILE. So five stars, I don't care, five stars. Oh my gosh I don't even know where to start you guys. It's funny, but that's not just it. It's incredibly well-written, but that's not just it. It's got a really fun structure that is executed really well, but that's not just it, either!

It's just, I feel like this might be one of the bes...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fun to read novel, hard to put down, but not totally satisfying. It rattles along at a fast clip, told in the form of emails and reports, about a Seattle family. The locations - Seattle and Antarctica - seem to be as important as the characters.

Bernadette is a stay at home mother who is remarkably anti social. She has no friends and doesn't like leaving the house, hiring an online virtual assistant based in India to carry out very simple chores. Her husband Elgie is a salt of the earth type, b...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 14, 2012 Stacia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

As far as the book.... Well, I say... meh. I finished it today. It was ok. As I've said before, chick lit is not really my genre, but this looked like it could be a fun book so I thought I'd give it a try. It might be better than some chick lit out there (I don't have much experience to compare it against), but imo it got a bit tedious reading most of the book in the style of letters, emails, reports, yada, yada.... Plus, the writing style of one of the characters in the book was extremely annoy...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Edan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a truly pleasurable read. I zipped through it in a few days, and whenever I wasn't reading it, I wanted to be doing so.

I laughed and I laughed as I read this, but I also found it be quite moving and thought-provoking. I really disliked Bernadette in the first 20 pages, in particular for how she addressed her "virtual assistant" in India, and at first I thought, "Oh God. Private school white people! I hate private school white people!" (Sorry--must be my LAUSD defensiveness and pride gr...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Giselle at Book Nerd Canada rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, from-publishers

The reader's point of view is from Bernadette Fox's daughter Bee who is a genius child and wants nothing more than to go to Antarctica with her parents. Following a string of letters, emails, notes, and even conversations between all the characters is a story about how Bernadette Fox goes missing. Her quirky actions ultimately lead to one of her biggest secrets, resulting in her only daughter to search for her.

Where'd You Go Bernadette is a wonderfully humourous read. I loved the different writi...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, books-i-own, firstreads, fiction

The one thing that sticks out in Maria Semple's bioblurb is that she was a writer for Arrested Development. It's know surprise then, that the title character of Where'd You Go, Bernadette is an eccentric, semi-anti-social mother (unlike Lucille 1, she's not an alcoholic, or an emotionally brutal mother). Her intelligent, well-meaning daughter, Bee, has been trying to put together the pieces after her mother's disappearance (okay, so maybe Bernadette is more like George Bluth, absentee parent and...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-library, fiction, humor, mystery, read-2012, tournament-of-books-2013, contemporary

Where'd You Go, Bernadette was wickedly funny. Who is Bernadette? Well, I think this part of the book's synopsis/blurb sums her up perfectly:

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Bernadette is, quite simply, just Bernadette. She's a fantastically funny character...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Cathy Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Had to put it down 1/3 of the way through. This book is so good I don't ever want it to end.

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Aug 15, 2012 Maudeen Wachsmith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

As beginning the book: I'm not very far into this book, but am LOVING it!! I think being so familiar with Seattle helps!!

After finishing the book: This was a quick read, made even mote enjoyable by its Seattle setting and so many familiar places mentioned including Bainbridge Island and Whidbey Island as well as several Seattle restaurants we love (Lola's, Wild Ginger). The author did fudge on a few things--there is no passenger ferry to Bainbridge Island and with only two car ferries serving BI...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Annie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd give the first two-thirds of this book 5 stars. It's rich with humor and great characters. I adore Bernadette and wish she were MY neighbor. Plus, just when I thought I had everything figured out, something unexpected would pop up--kudos to Ms. Semple. But the final section, while certainly apt for what's happening, doesn't have the zing of the rest of the book and I was a bit let down.

I still highly recommend this book. It's a perfect summer read, even if it's set in December!

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Oct 09, 2012 Leila rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a gem. The main character Bernadette is intensely appealing to me; she is rapier sharp witted, the humor is irascible yet fundamentally true, and there is an on going schism between whether her supposedly eccentric, anxiety ridden take on life is "crazy" or so scarily accurate that it is the rest of the world that is crazy & not her. This book unfolds with a series of hilarious emails from the assorted characters peopling Bernadette's life; from the intrusive, managing neighbor...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, 4-stars, new-author-to-me, read-on-kindle, tournament-of-books-2013

I am big fan of "quirky" and that word has been used a lot in describing Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette, so much so that I was almost afraid to read the book. At the start, it all seemed a bit too cute-sy with its contemporary epistolary format style of e-mails, letters, medical reports, faxes (faxes?!), etc. -- but once gaining some rhythm, I was devouring this novel like a bowl of tortilla chips (which sometimes ain't pretty folks!). In a highest compliment, I found it somewhat remi...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Thea Swanson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Where'd You Go, Bernadette was a hoot. Semple is just plain funny. Living near Seattle, I could relate. But more than that, I could relate to Bernadette--even though I'm nothing like her. This is good writing. What I got bogged down with sometimes was the tedious detail about things that seemed tangential and unimportant--I couldn't even name one because when I would come across it, I found myself (more toward the end of the book) skimming the text, which is unlike me. I also found that I don't...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Barb rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-reads, read-in-2013, audio

Humor is such a personal and variable thing. What's sad and poignant seems universal but humor has a range of styles, qualities and degrees. I remember hearing about a man who lost his sense of humor after being struck by lightning. I thought about how awful that would be. I think I'd rather lose my sense of hearing or the ability to taste than to lose the ability to laugh. Could you really be happy without a sense of humor? How could you function, how could you cope, without being able to laugh...more Humor is such a personal and variable thing. What's sad and poignant seems universal but humor has a range of styles, qualities and degrees. I remember hearing about a man who lost his sense of humor after being struck by lightning. I thought about how awful that would be. I think I'd rather lose my sense of hearing or the ability to taste than to lose the ability to laugh. Could you really be happy without a sense of humor? How could you function, how could you cope, without being able to laugh at yourself and your mistakes? How could you deal with the constant bad news we're bombarded with without humor? I think of humor as the spigot on the top of the pressure cooker that spins around pssssssssssssstttttttting off the steam of stress, sadness and personal challenges. Without it the whole pot might explode and splatter everything on the ceiling.

I think of myself as having a good sense of humor and I hope I never lose it, but I realize mine (sometimes warped, sometimes scatological and often sarcastic) isn't necessarily like yours. Getting the tone of voice right is key when reading humor, what's funny is often in the delivery, the timing and the tone. I struggle with tone and don't always get it right which is one of the reasons I enjoy audio books (the tone is done for you). I also have some sort of block when it comes to satire - I often just don't get it. When authors create characters that feel and sound like fingernails scratching down the chalkboard my first reaction is to cringe and shut the book. Sometimes when I read excerpts from `The Onion' I become disgusted by the horrible people being described before I remember that it's satire.

`Where'd You Go Bernadette' by Maria Semple, was our most recent book club selection. I began reading the print version of the book and disliked it so much I knew I'd never make it through the whole thing. So, I switched to the audio book which was better. The voices of the different characters were helpful and well done and the reader conveying the tone of voice was very helpful. But there were still some really weird things going on in this story that had me screwing up my face and saying "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" For instance the house Bernadette, Bee and Elgie live in is so dark and moist and uncared for that they have a gardener come in and weed-whack under the carpets.

Bernadette's character was a little like fingernails down a chalkboard, she was so self-centered and complained so much that I couldn't stand her at first. I hated the way she pawned off her to do lists to Manjula Kapoor via e-mail (Manjula lives in India and works as Bernadette's assistant for 30 cents an hour) it completely turned me off but I became sympathetic to her situation by the end of the book. And while the writing and story wasn't something I typically enjoy the group discussion was very fun. I liked the video of Maria Semple poking fun of herself trying to pedal the book which was posted on Good Reads.

As with every single other book I've read with "The Bad Book Club" and disliked, after listening to the discussion it sounded like a fabulous read. I'm glad I listened to the book so that I was able to participate in the discussion. Listening also helped me improve my scores for the book trivia portion of our evening. I feel like I have a secret weapon for future "Bad Book Club" book choices, I'm definitely going to try the audio option in the future as needed.

As far as recommending this book, I have to say, the only way you will know if this is for you is if you try it. (less)

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Dec 26, 2012 Renee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just before a family trip to Antarctica, Bernadette Fox disappears and her daughter, 15-year-old Bee, must find out what happened to her. Bernadette is a former architect living in Seattle with her husband, Elgin Branch, a genius who works for Microsoft. Their daughter, Bee, is extremely bright and on her way to boarding school in the fall. Bernadette is a bit crazy, relying on a virtual Indian assistant for daily tasks and always annoyed with the "gnats" (moms) of the other children at Bee's sc...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Jaspreet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the members of the Partners and Professors book club received Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple as a Christmas present. I was excited to read the book when I read that the author had written for some of my favorite shows, including Mad About You and Arrested Development. Just like when I watch those shows, I laughed out loud and was surprised at several points in the book. I expected the story to be funny, but I was delighted to find that there were also several sweet moments.

On...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Bethany rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this, it is smart and light and I was much more interested in what happened to Bernadette than what happened to the girl of Gone Girl, for instance. Semple takes the silliness of modern affluence in the US and blows it up into an edge of fantastical "What If" without being sharp or mean. She could so easily have pushed the characters into a more shrill yuck of a tone, but avoided it. I cared on some level about everyone. And I am forced to love any book with a female main chara...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Sonya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

More like 3.5, but worth rounding up.

Madcap, clever use of fragmented documentation into narrative. Enjoyable novel with a few bumps along the way.
****
I went for a walk today and started listening to this novel and as I walked along, all I could think about is the time when the lady I shared carpool with asked me when I was going to buy a minivan so I could carry more kids and when I said I wasn't, she fired me from carpool. A couple of years later, she was distressed by the woman who was in cha...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

This book tends to be out of my usual reading realm (I had Austen's "Persuasion" all set to read), but saw this on the library shelf and since other GR friends read it and liked it, I thought I'd try it. Read 50 pages over my cup of tea this morning. Totally irreverent, creative, and enjoyable!

* * * * *

I've never read a book like this! So incredibly creative! A story that is told in letters and emails, dialogue and all! A quick read, read it in a day. While the whining and griping started to bo...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
A Novel Read: Where'd You Go, Bernadette? ~ April 2013 Book Candy discussion thread	5	11	May 15, 2013 08:34pm
AMPL Online: Where'd You Go Bernadette Discussion	1	1	May 06, 2013 06:41am
Anne Taylor Loft: Where'd You Go Bernadette?	12	14	Apr 26, 2013 07:39pm
Ask Maria Semple ...: Bernadette's nature	7	160	Apr 23, 2013 06:52am
Kindle Book Club ...: SPOILER ALERT: Discussion Where'd You Go Bernadette, Completed Reading	26	52	Mar 27, 2013 05:02am

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About Maria Semple

Maria Semple's first novel, This One is Mine, was set in Los Angeles, where she also wrote for television shows including Arrested Development, Mad About You, and Ellen. She escaped from Los Angeles and lives with her family in Seattle, where her second novel takes place.

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“My heart started racing, not the bad kind of heart racing, like I'm going to die. But the good kind of heart racing, like, Hello, can I help you with something? If not, please step aside because I'm about to kick the shit out of life.” — 48 people liked it

“That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.” — 43 people liked it

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