false 28940 23 "I exist!" exclaims Ruby Lennox upon her conception in 1951, setting the tone for this humorous and poignant first novel in which Ruby at once celebrates and mercilessly skewers her middle-class English family. Peppered with tales of flawed family traits passed on from previous generations, Ruby's narrative examines the lives in her disjointed clan, which revolve around the family pet shop. But beneath the antics of her philandering father, her intensely irritable mother, her overly emotional sisters, and a gaggle of eccentric relatives are darker secrets--including an odd "feeling of something long forgotten"--that will haunt Ruby for the rest of her life. Kate Atkinson earned a Whitbread Prize in 1995 for this fine first effort. 29415 book 1995 Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel total:2205|5:635|4:874|3:523|2:132|1:41| 2205 8545 3190 329 1 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jul 05 15:44:15 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 05 15:49:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 12 08:59:11 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 12 09:00:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 08:30:13 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 09:02:09 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 18:00:22 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 18:03:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 01 15:03:52 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 01 15:04:48 -0800 2007
Ruby Lennox narrates her own life from the moment of her conception...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Oct 31 03:35:01 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 17 03:07:33 -0800 2007
*may contain SPOILERS*






The book is rather morbid and ocasionally very sarcastic (and so am I!) but I had a huge smile ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 13:40:16 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 13:40:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Apr 08 16:37:16 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 08 16:41:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jul 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 11:55:34 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 18 08:44:57 -0700 2008 The second part of the book is way more interesting and funny when the character Ruby comes into play. The f...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Wed Aug 29 13:49:09 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 13:49:35 -0700 2007
The story spans the family history of Ruby ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 12:35:35 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 12:45:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Sep 21 17:50:32 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 21 18:12:16 -0700 2007
Taking a bit of inspiration from that meta-fictional classic Tristram Shandy, Atkinson's irrepressible creation/narrator, Ruby, begins her story with her own conception.

From there it's tales of familial woe and d...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Mar 04 08:41:39 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 04 08:42:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 24 21:24:33 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 09 18:09:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 07 10:59:30 -0800 2007 Tue Jan 20 20:27:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 true false Sat Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Oct 03 08:34:37 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 10 08:43:50 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 17:32:27 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 17:45:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 07:59:05 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 07:54:23 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 true false Wed Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 24 14:23:32 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 14:30:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 06:03:12 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 09:53:23 -0800 2008
Yet it grew on me with the footnotes that take the reader back in time. And the material things -- the ph...more...]]>