Unexpectedly, Milo

Oct 10, 2012 Soobee72 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have picked this up and put it down countless times in the years since it was published. I LOVED Something Missing, Dicks' debut novel. So much so that I still recommend it to anyone who's looking for book recommendations. Perhaps because I loved Something Missing so, I had a hard time getting into it. Once I let that go, I really, really liked Milo.

Milo has O.C.D. that manifests itself in ways that were new to me. The things he is driven to do make it both easier on him (he's not driven to c...more I have picked this up and put it down countless times in the years since it was published. I LOVED Something Missing, Dicks' debut novel. So much so that I still recommend it to anyone who's looking for book recommendations. Perhaps because I loved Something Missing so, I had a hard time getting into it. Once I let that go, I really, really liked Milo.

Milo has O.C.D. that manifests itself in ways that were new to me. The things he is driven to do make it both easier on him (he's not driven to count his steps or touch every street post for example) and more difficult since it drives him to hear words like cacophony. As you might imagine, it causes stress on his marriage, especially since his wife has no idea. Milo has been able to hide this side of himself from everyone ever since a childhood incident that scarred him.

Mild spoilers ahead.

That marriage starts to crumble before the start of the book and Milo winds up moving out when his wife asks for space. She is completely unclear on what she means by that and is frankly so mean to Milo that it is completely understandable that he thinks she means she wants him out of the house for some time, and not just for a couple of weeks on a friend's couch like she apparently meant. The marriage is clearly in a lot of trouble. They don't talk. He because he is trying desperately to hide his ocd, and she because well, her motivations aren't really clear since this isn't her story, but she is not painted in a very flattering light.

Actually, her character is the weakest link in the story for me. It's hard to be sympathetic towards her even knowing how Milo has lied to her their entire relationship. This is partly because Milo himself is such a good guy that it's hard not to take sides.

After Milo moves out, he finds a camcorder and a bag of tapes in a park. He waits a day to see if anyone claims them, and then picks them up (the unlikeliness of it still being there a day later made me wonder if the owner had simply set them down in the same place the next day) with the idea of trying to figure out who the owner is. He doesn't turn it over to the police. Instead, he starts to watch the tapes. They turn out to be a video diary, and it starts him on a quest. I won't say anymore, except read this book!

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Nov 29, 2010 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoy the premise and background of Matthew Dicks' books: that people who are crazy in all kinds of ways are 1) not atypical, 2) endearing and funny, and 3) all around us (or are us).

This book prompted me to consider (over-analyze?) many of my own "interesting" thoughts and behaviors and the coping strategies that I use (successfully and unsuccessfully).

Points to ponder (from this book):
- Relationships - actual vs. perceived
- Honesty - with others and with ourselves
- Rituals - imposed v...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

In his first novel, SOMETHING MISSING, Mr. Dicks introduced us to Martin Railsback, a different sort of thief, with OCD. In this book we meet Milo Slade, a health care worker with OCD-ish tendencies, which complicate his everyday life and are, quite possibly, at the root of his current crumbling marital situation. One day Milo finds a video camera complete with a collection of sixteen tapes on a park bench. As he begins to watch the tapes, ostensibly in order to locate the owner of the camera, h...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

When I first started this book, I would have given it 2 stars. Half way through, it was nudged towards 3, and by the end it was a solid 4. Here's why...
I adored the author's first book, Something Missing, and had high expectations for his next book. In the beginning however, I found this book confusing and odd. Unrelenting demands, Weebles, jelly jars, U-boat captains and 99 Luftballons? What the hell? I felt that the attempt to unsettle and bewilder the reader in the hopes that they would be ea...more When I first started this book, I would have given it 2 stars. Half way through, it was nudged towards 3, and by the end it was a solid 4. Here's why...
I adored the author's first book, Something Missing, and had high expectations for his next book. In the beginning however, I found this book confusing and odd. Unrelenting demands, Weebles, jelly jars, U-boat captains and 99 Luftballons? What the hell? I felt that the attempt to unsettle and bewilder the reader in the hopes that they would be eager to read more was presented with a heavy hand. I was also disappointed in the main character of the story. Martin, the hero in Dicks' first book, was a man who was out of step with the world around him. He spent most of his energy trying to hide from society, and yet I found him vulnerable and endearing. Despite his fears and awkwardness, he managed to positively affect the people around him. Martin, the hero of this story, shares many traits with his predecessor. He strives to hide his true self from everyone he knows, he is quirky and insecure and almost isolated despite his marriage and friendships. Yet I did not initially find him as appealing as Martin. Milo is not as innocent and I didn't feel the same initial attachment to him.
As I continued reading, I got used to Milo and the interesting secondary characters. Eugene, Freckles, Mrs. Marchand, Emma and all the others stole my heart and made me see that Milo was growing as a character, and growing on me. With each entertaining vignette I was accepting Milo and starting to root for him to achieve his own happy ending. By the completion of the story, I realized that Dicks had written another winning novel, one that any reader will grow to love.
In the end, my only complaint is that this book left me with two unrelenting demands of my own- I now need to rent and rewatch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as soon as possible, and I also feel the need to join a book club with Milo/Matthew so that I can argue the merits of Saramago's Blindness (I know it was bleak and a bit harsh- but that made the connections formed by the core group even more poignant, and the hope offered at the end more precious! Dang it!)(less)

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Oct 24, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those interested in mental illness

Recommended to Carol by: Goodreads review

Wow. This book is captivating if you're interested in mental illness. This is the first time I've found a book about a person who is intelligent and functional despite suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I found it fascinating and original.

Milo hides his disorder from friends, wife, parents, school, job. It's very complicated for him. His innocent behavior in grade school causes him to be viewed as odd, and teachers and parents are mystified and alarmed. He is filled with shame, and...more

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May 18, 2012 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.75 Stars.

Unexpectedly Milo was pleasant in an unexpected way. While a reader might peruse the synopsis and decide that Milo, a nice normal guy who randomly must open grape jelly jars and sing "99 Luftballoons" in German to an audience, is the most unusual/interesting character in the book, they would be sorely mistaken. If anything, Milo turns out to be one of the least intriguing characters, though not even he realizes it.

Matthew Dicks has a knack at bringing characters to life; even if the...more 3.75 Stars.

Unexpectedly Milo was pleasant in an unexpected way. While a reader might peruse the synopsis and decide that Milo, a nice normal guy who randomly must open grape jelly jars and sing "99 Luftballoons" in German to an audience, is the most unusual/interesting character in the book, they would be sorely mistaken. If anything, Milo turns out to be one of the least intriguing characters, though not even he realizes it.

Matthew Dicks has a knack at bringing characters to life; even if they're only with us for a few page stent, they feel real and they are memorable. Characters we as readers never actually get to meet in person, so to speak, jump off the page and become alive. The dialogue never feels stiff or unusual and each individual has their own voice.

The story itself is pleasantly, equally surprising. Though a few moments that are meant to be unpredicted are sadly predictable to a generation conditioned to expect the unexpected (i.e. me), other moments, which were arguably more important, were refreshingly original and strangely satisfying. Strangely because, had someone told me the outcome before the moment it happened, I might have complained, but having lived through the moment, I don't see it coming to any other end. (That's all I'm going to say as I generally like to avoid spoilers.)

Having said that, the prose did get a bit tiring at times. The narrator is a close third person and some of the repetitiveness and over analysis can be attributed to Milo's condition, but not all of it. This resulted in me feeling as though the narrator (or author) didn't quite trust me to remember certain interaction or, more often, to be able to discern the meaning in certain things or understand the tension of certain moments, on my own. I think the over listing of Milo's "demands" was only bothersome because they were first described as a bit secretive and many, but then boiled down to about 4 reoccurring actions. Some of which could have easily been spiced up (for instance the action involving words did not always require the same word, but the same words were recollected again and again anyway). Again, this could account to Milo's condition in some cases, but not all, and these moments could have likely been paired down, making for a shorter more enjoyable read.

Not all digressions or over analysis were too much, however. The whole novel (almost) itself is basically a digression as we start at nearly the end and then jump back. How the digressions within the digression are handled are actually quite nice, taking me from one place to another and softly landing back again without letting me forget where we had left off. Those moments worked.

And in general, the whole book really does work. If I had to choose two words to describe this book they'd be "intriguing" and "pleasant." I think it definitely makes for a good, relaxed summer read or even something to return to after a hard day at work. There's a bit of mystery thrown in the mix of all these unforgettable characters that should pull you through to the end, and the cherry on top is that you might learn a little bit about yourself along the way as well.

If you see it on the shelf while you're out and about, pick it up and keep it.
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Mar 04, 2013 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/...

This was another "scan the library bookshelves" find, a quirky story about a thirtysomething man (Milo Slade) who has an unususal form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It manifests itself in making strange demands on his brain and taking over his life until he satisfies them. For example, a word will pop into his head and his obsession will not go away until someone spontaneously says this word. Or he will suddenly have the need to pop the seals on grape...more http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/...

This was another "scan the library bookshelves" find, a quirky story about a thirtysomething man (Milo Slade) who has an unususal form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It manifests itself in making strange demands on his brain and taking over his life until he satisfies them. For example, a word will pop into his head and his obsession will not go away until someone spontaneously says this word. Or he will suddenly have the need to pop the seals on grape jelly jars, bowl a strike, see a movie he's watched several times before, let all the air out of his tires, or sing a karaoke version of "99 Luftballons" in German (remember that song from the '80s?) in front of an audience. And he keeps all this a secret from everyone.

As you can imagine, his marriage was not terribly successful. When the novel begins, he and his wife Christine have separated, although it seems that neither of them are convinced that's what they really want. Milo is a home health care nurse and seems to have a stronger relationship with his patients than he does with his wife (who of course knows nothing of his disorder but probably just thinks he's weird).

One day Milo finds a video camera with a bag of tapes under a park bench. He returns the next day to find them still there, so he takes them home and begins watching the videos. They're made by a grieving young woman he initially coins "Freckles," and she has a lot of secrets, too. Milo is determined to help this woman feel better by solving one of her problems. He takes off on a road trip to North Carolina to find a friend of hers, who had vanished 20+ years earlier.

This journey makes Milo realize that he's not the only one who is a bit odd and he's also not the only one hiding secrets. He begins to reveal more of himself and understand what he really wants and doesn't want out of his life.

After awhile, the demands did get a bit annoying to read about...I suppose Milo felt far worse. I wonder if this is a real type of OCD, or if it's something the author made up. I had a hard time understanding why Milo didn't want to get help for this problem of his--it would have driven me crazy! I didn't feel particularly sympathetic to Milo because of the way he detached himself from others through his secrets. My favorite part of the novel was when he met with one of his elderly clients, who were all far more honest and genuine than Milo himself.
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Jul 25, 2011 Larry Hoffer added it

Quirky characters are a staple of fiction; most writers believe it's more rewarding to create dysfunctional characters than seemingly normal ones. Milo Slade, the title character in Matthew Dicks' ultra-quirky novel, Unexpectedly, Milo, has more than his share of issues. Suffering from a super-charged version of obsessive-compulsive disorder (although one that requires creativity and excellent problem-solving skills, as Milo acknowledges), Milo is randomly struck by strange compulsions: the need...more Quirky characters are a staple of fiction; most writers believe it's more rewarding to create dysfunctional characters than seemingly normal ones. Milo Slade, the title character in Matthew Dicks' ultra-quirky novel, Unexpectedly, Milo, has more than his share of issues. Suffering from a super-charged version of obsessive-compulsive disorder (although one that requires creativity and excellent problem-solving skills, as Milo acknowledges), Milo is randomly struck by strange compulsions: the need to bowl a strike, open a sealed jelly jar, sing 99 Red Balloons at a karaoke bar (in German, no less), or crack ice cubes from an ice cube tray. If he doesn't perform these "demands," the pressure in his head gets worse and worse, sometimes splintering into multiple compulsions. (Milo felt as if the demands were "programmed" by a German U-boat commander who becomes more and more frustrated when his orders aren't obeyed.)

As if handling this problem isn't enough, Milo's marriage to Christine is suffering, partially because he is hiding his disorder from her. She has asked for space, he finds an apartment, only to find out that she just wanted him to sleep over at a friend's house for a week or two. And then he finds a camcorder in the park with a bag of videotapes. On these tapes is a mystery woman's video diary, in which she expresses regret for causing a friend's death and divulges other sadnesses in her life. Milo watches long enough to find out who she is (and develops a bit of a crush on her), and then goes on a mission to right one of the wrongs she mentions in the videos.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. The description of Milo's disorder was really vivid and I can only imagine the pain and anxiety he must have felt dealing with it on a day-to-day basis. But after a while, his quirks became too numerous to bear and it was hard to identify with him or follow his motivation for certain actions. I felt more like the frustrated Christine, wondering exactly what made Milo tick. The book was well-written, and I enjoyed many of the supporting characters, but in the end, I just needed space from Milo.(less)

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Aug 10, 2010 Joanne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I really really loved Something Missing, and thought perhaps this would be a sequel, but it's not. It's a stand-alone about yet another guy (Milo of the title) with compulsive habits ("demands"). These are distracting to him and to me as a reader, and since his meeting the demand (e.g., opening a jelly jar) results in a physical release that's practically sexual, it's uncomfortable to read. Milo is supposed to be a good guy, and he certainly is kind to people, but he isn't that likable.

I was als...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Helen Dunn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: four-stars

I'm really at 3.5 on this one. I enjoyed the plot and I found myself really feeling sympathy for Milo even though he's a pretty strange guy. All of the cultural references in the book seemed to be snatched out of my own childhood memories -- so that helped me to enjoy the book more too.

Still, I'm not sure that this story will work for everyone, hence the hedging between 3 and 4 stars.

This is my second Matthew Dicks book and while I enjoyed the plot of the first one (Something Missing) I never wa...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Unexpectedly Milo is unexpectedly awesome! Milo Slade suffers from OCD and has spent his life hiding his affliction from others. He's been startlingly successful; even his wife has no idea. But now his marriage is breaking up and he's struggling to figure out how to fix it when he happens upon a video camera and some tapes. The tapes turn out to be the video diary of a woman who believes herself responsible for the recent death of her best friend and also for the presumed death of her childhood...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the second book I read by this author and it was just as good as the first. I really love books about eccentric people, and he definitely delivers! Milo has a weird disorder where he has a compulsion to do certain things, and remains tense until he can do so..they range from simple like bowling a strike to bizarre (singing 99 Luftbaloons in German" His marriage to Christine, his wife, is falling apart. And he discovers a video confessional left on a park bench by a woman he doesn't know,...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Caanan Grall rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

I love this book mainly because I share a similar world view to the main character (and therefore, possibly the author? Don't know.) I just found myself nodding in recognition to so many 'insights' dropped throughout this book, and we're never happier than when we're hearing how right we are, right? ;) The vide camera confessional is a very interesting premise, and the peek in to the mind of a protagonist with OCD was pretty fascinating. I don't know how clinically correct it is, but I'm choosin...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Scotchneat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family-fiction, humour, outcasts

Milo has spent his life hiding his impulses from everyone, including his wife, who's now more interested in leaving him than making things work.

He doesn't understand why he needs to pop jars of grape jam, or sing karaoke, or bowl a strike. But after he finds a video camera and some tapes, he's off on a journey that forces him to see that lots of people go through life making people adjust to their quirks, instead of keeping everyone away to ensure they can have them.

Milo is likable despite his e...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Carol rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is griping if you're interested in different types of mental illness. This is the first time I've found a book about a person who is intelligent and functional despite suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I found it fascinating and original. Another of my group members mentioned Monk. I loved that show and the books tied into him. I got my family involved in it too, so it's something we all enjoy.

Milo hides his disorder from friends, wife, parents, school, job. It's very co...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Kwoomac rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: quest, contemporary-lit, 2013, amateur-sleuth, unlikely-hero, road-trip, romance, reviewed

Author Matthew Dicks creates another quirky hero in this, his second book. Milo has some form of OCD, which he has kept secret from others his entire life. Well, at least since he was eight and realized he was different. He gets an idea in his head and then pressure builds until he is able to relieve it by acting on his impulse. It way be to release the seal on a new jar of Smuckers jelly (the 20 oz. size), pop open an ice cube tray, bowl a strike or sing karaoke. Kind of like how people enjoy p...more Author Matthew Dicks creates another quirky hero in this, his second book. Milo has some form of OCD, which he has kept secret from others his entire life. Well, at least since he was eight and realized he was different. He gets an idea in his head and then pressure builds until he is able to relieve it by acting on his impulse. It way be to release the seal on a new jar of Smuckers jelly (the 20 oz. size), pop open an ice cube tray, bowl a strike or sing karaoke. Kind of like how people enjoy popping bubble wrap. I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't love doing that! I'm going to have to say my favorite compulsion involves words. Milo will get a word stuck in his head and it will remain stuck there until he can get someone to say the word in the course of conversation. Doesn't work to just have someone say it by perhaps writing down the word and asking someone how to pronounce it. And of course it's not a word that generally might come up in conversation. It's words like loquacious or conflagration or placebo. It's fun watching Milo figure out how to get someone to say the right word.

So Milo has spent much energy hiding this from everyone including his wife and best friend. Milo decides he needs to go on a road trip, for reasons you'll just have to read about. I love a good road trip. So Milo goes on this quest to find someone and while he doesn't have to slay dragons (except those in his own mind), he does meet many characters along the way. They all end up having their own peculiarities but, unlike Milo, they except and even embrace their differences. Milo's a slow learner though so he almost has to be hit over the head before this message gets through to him.

I loved Dick's first book and I loved this one as well. I could relate to Milo. He's a gentle soul with an all consuming secret. While I don't have OCD, I'm going to have to say I do love opening a brand new jar of anything. His other quirks, not so much. I'm glad I took this ride with Milo. Also glad that Dicks has written another fun story. (less)

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Oct 29, 2011 Conor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: senior-year

Unexpectedly Milo
Matthew Dicks

Unexpectedly Milo is a book of which I have mixed emotions. It is longer than it has to be, but a quick read. It is a story I have seen a number of times, but with a very unique variation. Its not a story for everyone, but one in which I relate very much to.

The protagonist, Milo, appears to have OCD that was never diagnosed. His marriage is ruined, and he is always at the wrong place at the wrong time. His wife distances himself from him further and further, an...more Unexpectedly Milo
Matthew Dicks

Unexpectedly Milo is a book of which I have mixed emotions. It is longer than it has to be, but a quick read. It is a story I have seen a number of times, but with a very unique variation. Its not a story for everyone, but one in which I relate very much to.

The protagonist, Milo, appears to have OCD that was never diagnosed. His marriage is ruined, and he is always at the wrong place at the wrong time. His wife distances himself from him further and further, and Milo makes all the wrong assumptions. Milo has to submit to certain desires, but cannot face them. As this is all going on, Milo one day stumbles across a backpack with a video camera and several videos. These videos take him on a journey that shadows the entire story and culminates in an interesting, but expected way.

Overall, I liked it a lot. I think I was able to get through it as fast as I did only because I relate a lot to Milo. Watching Milo develop into the character he became gave me this sense of hope, that I will one day be fine too, and that there is nothing wrong with having OCD. Having said that, I can understand why people would not find it interesting, and like I previously stated, it is much longer than it needs to be.(less)

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Jul 24, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Upon first finishing this book I was convinced it was more sad than happy. All the other reviews had raved about it's humor and I didn't get it. I think I might now.
Milo is an average guy hiding a not so average secret. He has these demands in his head that tell him to do strange things like pop Weebles in doors and let the air out of all four tires. If he doesn't meet these demands in a reasonable time they become worse, so much so that he can't function. Somehow though Milo has managed to hid...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Paul by: BOTNS Retreat

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Milo suffers from OCD, which he has successfully hidden from his wife of three years. Image is important to Christine – she drives the right car, her make-up is perfect, etc. But Milo suffers to keep his secrets because of his uncertainty about how his wife (and others) will perceive him. Milo also tries to hide his innate “nerdiness” (he likes to play D&D). He even fakes orgasms with his wife.

While walking thru the park, Milo finds a videocam and confessional tapes belonging to a woman he n...more Milo suffers from OCD, which he has successfully hidden from his wife of three years. Image is important to Christine – she drives the right car, her make-up is perfect, etc. But Milo suffers to keep his secrets because of his uncertainty about how his wife (and others) will perceive him. Milo also tries to hide his innate “nerdiness” (he likes to play D&D). He even fakes orgasms with his wife.

While walking thru the park, Milo finds a videocam and confessional tapes belonging to a woman he nicknames “Freckles”. He watches the tapes ostensibly to discover who the woman is so that he can return the tapes to her. Like Milo (and the rest of us), she, too, has secrets. One of them is that she helped her best childhood friend, Tess, run away from home. The friend was never heard from again and Freckles fears that she is dead and that she bears some responsibility for helping her plan the escape. Eventually Milo learns the cam owner’s real name and correctly deduces that Tess ran away from an abusive father and may still be alive.

The novel now shifts into a road trip as Milo travels from CT to NC to find Tess. On his way he meets several people and experiences several episodes of his OCD. When he finally meets Tess (now known as Emma), he persuades her to travel back to CT with him to reconnect with Cassidy/Freckles. During the trip back, he is told that his wife has filed for divorce, connects strongly with Emma who accepts him with all his foibles and begins to discover how to subdue his compulsions.

Finally, Emma and Cassidy meet (happily) and Milo begins to date a nurse (Lily) he met while on his journey to NC.

This is a sweet book with an easy-to-empathize-with protag. The author gives us a terrific description of OCD compulsions and how they take over and cannot be ignored. The novel contained no real surprises, traveling, like Milo, in a direct line to the obvious conclusion – a reunion between Freckles and Tess/Emma and Milo beginning to come to terms with his disorder.

Grade: B+
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Dec 05, 2010 Mallory rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Mallory by: Jocelyn Wood

After enjoying Something Missing, the author's first book, I had high hopes for Matthew Dicks's second foray into the mind of a main character who suffers from obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Unfortunately, however, Unexpectedly Milo did not live up to expectations, lacking the charm of Dicks's debut novel. The premise had potential, but fails in the execution. Like Something Missing disproportionate amounts of the narrative are dedicated to minute details (which is effective in books about OCD...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this one up because "Daily Candy" told me it would make me "laugh out loud" and "never put it down." A pretty strong endorsement.

But I don't remember laughing out loud once and it took me more than a week to read which is never a good sign. That said, there were some really good things about this one. There are some interesting characters that do some not-so-ordinary things. One of my favorites is a main character who only appears on videotape as she confesses to all the terrible thing...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction

A wonderful book about a man in a nothing marriage simply because the woman didn't question quirks he has. Milo has OCD with some pretty bizarre symptoms as having complex words pop into his head and the need to trick people into saying them so he can feel release. He also needs to make a strike in bowling which causes him to search out bowling alleys at all times of the day and to sing Karaoke to 99 Luftballoons, the German version. The wife knows nothing of this so half his life is hidden from...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Ken Kugler rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was an amazing journey with a man who has more quirks than you could possibly shake a stick at. Matthew Dicks has come through with another OCD character driven book that is thoroughly likable. You will root for Milo to succeed in his quest. He is one strange dude.
Milo has to help find a young woman he discovered by accident when he stumbles across a video camera and tapes. The journey is as much an exercise in sleuthing as somehow managing his menagerie of hard to quench quirks.

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Aug 09, 2010 Debra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Whle I did not fall in love with Milo as I had hoped I would, other characters did elicit strong emotions. I strongly disliked Milo's wife, Christine and very much liked - well, I won't give it away - but I really liked some of the female characters at the end of the book. I found Milo's quirks to be a little too offbeat for my liking and sometimes found it distracting... but I suppose that OCD is "supposed " to be distracting and poor Milo was distracted all of the time. All in all, it was a go...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Martin Castro rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up thinking it would be just like 'Something Missing' ( Dicks' first novel). I was partially right, and partially wrong. this book is just as quirky and just as interesting, it's really quite great. It differs from 'Something Missing' in that it's less 'innocent" (for lack of a better term). All the interesting, quirky, and funny bits are still there, they just surround a more mature story.
all in all, I suggest you pick it up and give it a try.

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Oct 11, 2010 Kiersten rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was really disappointed with this book. I loved Something Missing and was looking forward to reading Matthew Dicks' second book, but it did not do it for me. It was extremely vulgar--the "F" word was used multiple times and really offensive at parts. And the story just wasn't as good, either. One star seems a little harsh, because it wasn't the worst book ever written, but, well, I "didn't like it." It was similar to Something Missing, but lacked the charm.

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Sep 03, 2010 Jacqueline rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jacqueline by: Daily Candy

Shelves: quit-reading, library-books

I could see where someone would like this, but not me. I wasted two weeks trying to plug through this book and just couldn't get interested. Milo is sweet, but has severe Obsessive Compulsive disorder, he goes off looking for a woman he watched confess multiple things on a video camera he found. Oh, and he is getting divorced. Just wasn't my cup of tea. It was recommended by Daily Candy, and well, that should have told me something.

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Oct 26, 2010 Sarahz rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book, about a man with unique OCD compulsions and a woman's video diary, took me a while to get into, but once it got going I found myself oddly drawn to it, wanting to know what would happen next. While Milo was a bit creepy at times, he does seem to have his heart in the right place. It definitely made me want to read his first book.

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Jan 17, 2013 Daniel Potter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Reading through Milo's quirks over and over and over again began to to very tiresome. I can't imagine how hard it would be to go through life with the difficulties that Milo had. At one point i almost skipped ahead (but didn't). But i still did enjoy this book.

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Aug 13, 2010 Matthew Hogg rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. I don't have any sort of OCD but Dicks paints such a clear picture of what is going on in Milo's head that I was completely engrossed by his struggle.

It's also really funny, and that can't be underestimated.

Highly recommended!

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title link	preview: Unexpectedly, Milo
avg rating	preview: Unexpectedly, Milo Goodreads rating: 3.55 (327 ratings)
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Unexpectedly, Milo

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