419 was so good, a worthy Giller winner so was a bit disappointed by this work of satire, which grew old pretty quick. I'm not going to go chasing down Ferguson works going forward.

The tone of this novel is almost whimsical and it took me a while to figure out the seriousness of the story. I suspect that it was the author’s intent to keep the reader slightly off-balance while he established the underpinnings of the plot.

Amazon calls this “the startling, funny, and heartbreaking story of a psychological experiment gone wrong” and says that “The Shoe on the Roof is an explosively imaginative tour de force, a novel that questions our definitions of sanity and madness, while exploring the magical reality that lies just beyond the world of scientific fact.”

https://www.exurbanis.com/archives/12180

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC to preview and review. I truly enjoyed this book. It is about science, religion, medicine and relationships. It's also a murder mystery. Some of the prose is almost lyrical. Recommended.

While the overall concept of this novel is fascinating, it was the richness of the individual characters that really drew me into this book. Ferguson's writing is sometimes too clever, drawing a boundary around the inner lives of the characters, but these ones were genuinely real and compelling to read about.

As always Will Ferguson has immaculate writing. I always really enjoy his writing style, pacing and flow. Without a doubt this Canadian (and from my local city, Calgary!) has a writing ability that is far above many others who write fiction novels (of any kind).

Science-y
As with any book with a scientific focus there are a lot of technical aspects that Ferguson has to explain to us. These were probably my favourite parts of the book. Ferguson adapts a style reminiscent of Michael Crichton or similar to Mira Grant, in which he is 'teaching' the reader at a high level what it may mean to do certain tests or control environments, etc. I found this very palatable and interesting.

Plot
The Shoe on the Roof has a very obvious and linear plot. There is our lead guy who is researching the idea of how god exists in the brain. He falls in love, loses the girl and then finds out her brother believes he is Jesus Christ. So lead find wants to help girl's brother and so he pursues three people who believe they are Jesus Christ and begins therapy/testing on them.
Simple right? Sure, until you get into the psychosis of our leading man... or and the random mystery thrown in.

The 'real' story
I would argue that the short plot summary above is in fact not the plot at all. The actual plot is three-fold:
1) Is there a scientific way to definatively prove that god does not exist?
2) Is our leading man too mentally broken, himself, to have an objective opinion.
3) There is an emerging mystery that pops up mid-way through

It's clear that Ferguson feels the idea of god and mental health to be a very complex (and he's correct) topic, and one that depending on your viewpoint can be discussed for eternity. That is really the story here in my opinion. One about mental health, god and the idea of what people believe and why.

So why only 3 stars?
There are a few reasons why The Shoe On the Roof didn't resonate with me as much as the stellar bestseller 419 from Ferguson.
- I didn't get excited about reading it; or sad about putting it down. Overall I was very blah about reading the book
- I never really got a sense for the main character. I wanted more from our leading man. I wanted to really understand his childhood that involved being studied. There is some of it there, but that is the story I think I really craved. I'd have rather read about his childhood than his endeavor to enter the medical profession.
- The mystery kind of popped up and was clearly side-story until the end when it suddenly felt like main story. I didn't like this transition and it took away from our main characters overall pursuit of science in the end.
- I had some fundamental concerns about how certain topics (especially mental health) were portrayed here...

Mental Health Portrayal
As someone who never really understood mental health; and used to think people could just 'get over' things, I was disturbed by one of the messages that you could derive from Ferguson's characters. Especially because it comes from our 'expert' doctor. As someone with a medicated anxiety disorder it is disturbing for me to read that mental health may not a physical problem, but instead more an emotional or social one. While this is true at the core of it's essence; the doctor then goes on to talk about how you just have to change the patients 'cognitive' function. It really disturbed me that this was too easy a way to easily dismiss mental health as something the person just needs to 'fix' or get therapy to 'fix.
That said, I am 90% sure that Ferguson is actually trying to get readers to think outside the box of medications and therapies for mental health. That is in fact (I believe) the whole point of our lead man's perspective and scientific pursuit. He has the idea that maybe we are approaching problems from the wrong angle or perspective. And I certainly understand this is the purpose of the book. But it doesn't diminish how uncomfortable I was thinking someone might walk away with the wrong idea and just assume that mental health folks are just weak and need more willpower. Maybe I'm being paranoid but I just can't get over how compelling of an argument it felt, especially from our 'expert doctor' character.

Overall
I will always read Will Ferguson's work. If only to be reminded of what solid writing is. Ferguson likes to tackle somewhat controversial issues and ask the reader to see the other side. He does this so well in his bestselling book 419 (as we develop sympathy for our Nigerian scammer). In The Shoe on the Roof I think he has done a good job of presenting all arguments and leaving things open to interpretation of the reader. As the reader you get to decide or think on the different perspectives and make a decision for yourself; or determine that it's too complex to really know about. Really good books make you think and certainly this book made me think.
At the end of the day I was disturbed by some of the counter ideas in Ferguson's novel and even a couple days after finishing the book can't seem to shake them. So for that, and that I never felt drawn into the story in a really solid way, I will stand behind my 3 star review. Even though Ferguson is, without a doubt, a 5 star writer to me and I cannot wait to read his next book; whatever the topic might be.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

It just wasn't for me. Too disturbing with the mentally ill being part of an experiment is too heavy in today's world. I might try again while in a lighter frame of mind.

I couldn't get into this book nor finish it. Could be just my personal preference. I can't give an honest review as I did not read the whole book.

A quirky premise from an award-winning author; enjoyable because of the humour aspect of the writing, but sometimes the plot lagged.

I found this to be a solid 3.5 stars. The plot overall was interesting enough that I read to the end, but I found it to drag slightly at times (this may have been because I was looking for a primarily entertaining read). The characters were quite provoking but I didn't connect well with the protagonist.

Thomas is left heartbroken after his girlfriend leaves him. He tries to make up with her but Amy wants nothing to do with him, so Thomas decides to go to extreme measures to win her back. He decides to cure her mentally ill brother. Sebastian (Amy’s brother) believes he is Jesus Christ. Thomas comes up with a unique method to heal him along with two other people who also believe they are Jesus Christ. However, Thomas is quickly caught by his father who decides to spearhead the experiment himself.

Thomas as a character was very well written with great depth. He is a womanizer, self-absorbed egotistical man who has had a silver spoon in his mouth his whole life. While growing up his life was monitored by his father who wrote many world-famous books on childhood. This has affected Thomas as he has been forced to live in his father’s shadow. Amy wasn’t given a lot of detail and time to develop her character, so I really didn’t understand some of her motivations. I really didn’t know the purpose of the test she plays on Thomas, seemed like it was added just for plot development.

The plot was amazing, I loved the many hidden meanings in the novel. Will Ferguson does an amazing job of taking a jab at the medical field. The novel mentions how many patients are misdiagnosed and instead of proper therapy and treatment being given doctors throw pills at the patients, with many of the side effects being worse than the actual treatment itself. Although I only have a rudimentary knowledge of psychology I have heard of this happening (not just mental illness but all illnesses).

My major complaint with the novel was I found it didn’t flow properly. The first portion didn’t tie very well with the later portions of the novel. I also didn’t understand the purpose of mentioning how a patient whose heart stopped and was brought back to life was given a chapter in the novel. This character never makes a reappearance and it felt like the only reason it was mentioned was to hint at the title of the novel.

Overall this was an enjoyable, unique novel. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC.

I wasn't sure about this book when I began it. The characters didn't grab me and the story was plodding along. What grabbed me was the "inciting incident" where Amy dumps Thomas because of his reaction to what she did.

My reaction to what she did? "who DOES that??"

Thomas' reaction was to spiral into depression and then be inspired by the three 'Messiahs' lurking in his city. From there the story became even more enjoyable purely for the dialogue between Thomas and the Messiahs, specifically 'the magician'.

I wasn't sure how it would end and I have to say I wasn't expecting the ending. It didn't have the sort of 'wow' I was expecting and a few of the side plots could have been dropped. Where they necessary? I'm thinking Bernie was about as important as Indiana Jones to his stories.

Overall, an enjoyable novel with some interesting facts dribbled in. Either the author is a doctor of he is diligent on research. Either way, I liked learning new things about our brain.

Thomas is a very interesting character. His father a psychiatrist of great renown had raised him as an experiment, always taking notes on what he was doing when. Thomas is now taking notes on his own subjects, three men who all claim to be Jesus. He wants to bring them together so that they can see that they are all wrong, because there is only 1 Jesus.
I found this to be an engaging book, I wanted to keep reading to see what actually was going to happen.

DNF - I was very keen to read Will Ferguson's novel and was drawn into the story initially, but by half way I had completely lost interest. Unfortunately I didn't feel the story was well-written. The disjointedness of the writing and the ridiculous situation the main character put himself into, made The Shoe on the Roof too hard to loose myself in the pages, as I long to do with a great fiction novel. Disappointing.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

Thomas Rosanoff is the son of a renowned psychiatrist and is the subject of one of his most famous books "Boy in the box" He is a medical student who has his heart broken by his girlfriend Amy.

Thomas has to carry out a research project as part of his studies and decides to combine this with a way to get Amy back. Her brother is a Catholic priest who thinks he is the Son of God. Thomas meets another two men who also think they are the Son of God. Eli, a down and out man and the Magician.

Thomas manages to get the three man back to his home with the aid of impersonating his father in the hopes of curing them. He tries to conduct therapy sessions with some very funny moments.However things don't work out the way he plans and things take a turn for the worse when Doctor Rosanoff steps in and takes over the experiment relocating them back to Thomas' childhood home.

There is a lot of humour in this book but there is also a huge amount of sadness at the way society as a whole treats the homeless and the mentally ill. There was a side story of the murders of some of the homeless in this book which I felt was unnecessary. I felt this added to the depiction of the homeless and mentally ill as unworthy and quite disposable. Very uncomfortable reading.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and there are some great characters. The one thing I wished for is finding what happened to the magician.

I am a big fan of Will Ferguson's work, but... this one just didn't work for me.
The premise was interesting, but something was wrong with this whole narrative. The first part had a bit too much of teenage boy libido, the later part a bit too much didactic spiritual and neurological mumbo jumbo.
This could have been an intriguing, important book. It just didn't quite make it.

I really wanted to like this book, and there were times when I did enjoy the story. But overall, this one just didn't do it for me. The premise was definitely intriguing and I really liked the way the author introduced Thomas as this cocky, confident, and slightly eccentric student. It was fun to read about his escapades and his conquests. Did I think the plan to get his girlfriend back was crazy? Absolutely! But I was willing to go through with reading about it. I liked the 3 homeless men and the way they made Thomas reevaluate his notions about the world. In fact, they made ME reevaluate my own beliefs. When Thomas's father stepped into the picture, the story went towards the dark side. I didn't actually mind this transition as it created this really awesome downward spiral. All of the above aspects I mentioned are positive. However, there were quite a few things I didn't like. There were quite a few parts in the story that dragged the pace and I found it really hard to push myself past these points; I wanted to get to the good stuff and these parts just seemed like fillers. There was a random murder aspect thrown into the story that really didn't add anything; instead of heightening my reading experience, it served to dampen it. I also thought that Thomas's childhood could have had more focus than it did in the novel; I would be really eager for a glimpse into it and then I would only get a tidbit and feel disappointed. While the plot and character development was intriguing, the pacing was slow, there were too many fillers, and some plot aspects really should have been omitted. For those reasons, I'm giving this a 2.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of The Shoe on the Roof by Will Ferguson in exchange for an honest review. Thomas Rosanoff, a medical student, has been dumped by his girlfriend. He has had an unusual childhood: his father, a psychiatrist, used his son as a test subject for all of his young years. He was observed by researchers via two-way glass and famously became known as "The Boy in the Box". As a means to attract his girlfriend back into his life, Thomas becomes a researcher of three homeless men who believe individually that they are the messiah. One of the research subjects happens to be the brother of his ex-girlfriend. Upon finding out what his son is involved in, Rosanoff Sr. takes control of the experiment, causing more problems for his son. What happens to Thomas makes up the second half of the novel. I held back one star in my rating because the book too often reads like a psychiatry textbook. Also, the book is marketed as being funny but I found most of it to be sad and disturbing. I am happy to have read this book but would not re-read. A good book for students of psychiatry.

The Shoe on the Roof has an extremely unique plot. The idea that belief in God can be caused neurologically is certainly provocative. When I read the book blurb about how this story is about a failed psychological experiment I was worried it would be a “heavy” read with lots of difficult words and medical jargon. That is not the case at all. The scientific terms are not difficult to understand. Other reviewers have said there were many times that they laughed out loud, and although I didn’t find it funny enough to actually laugh out loud, it is a fun, quick read.

Each character had a distinct voice and personality. One of the mentally ill men who calls himself the magician is my favourite character by far. I would read an entire book about his life story. There are lots of interesting medical information and thought-provoking ideas about the relation between mental health and religion.

There are some interesting comparisons between this story and Christianity. The Shoe on the Roof highlights father/son relationships: Thomas and his father, Jesus Christ and his father. Thomas is trying to cure three men who believe they are the Messiah, which made me think of the three wise men. Thomas’s godmother Frances is a wonderful woman who helps the injured and sick homeless people – probably inspired by Saint Frances of Rome, a nun who served in hospitals and even established a homeless shelter at one point in her life.

There is a big twist at the end that I DID NOT SEE coming. I often guess the big twist when reading mysteries and thrillers, so I’m always impressed when an author manages to make my jaw drop.

I did not start liking the main character, Thomas, until around 3/4 of the way through the book. At the beginning of the story he is a sexist, arrogant, a-hole. I did not understand his motivations which made me not care about if he was able to win back his ex-girlfriend. Actually, I don’t even like the ex-girlfriend either to be honest. Thankfully, Thomas achieves a crap-load of personal growth, and by the last 50 pages I found myself finally caring about him. I would have quit reading it before the 100 page mark if it wasn’t an ARC. I am glad I did finish it, because this ended up being a pretty good read for me.

I don’t understand why there was a murder mystery sub plot about homeless people being murdered. That could have been left out of the story completely and wouldn’t have changed the main plot in any way. Actually…you could also cut out the Thomas/Amy storyline as well. It would have created more room to give us more background information, especially about the three mentally ill men.

If you’re a fan of mysteries and like science/psychology I think you’ll dig this book.

Anyone looking to repeat the magic of Ferguson's 419 is likely to be disappointed by anything else, but this is a solid read from a masterful writer. The protagonist is deliciously contradictory, and the premise of his attempt to succeed in life and career (and get Daddy's approval, of course) by taking three self-professed Jesuses under his wing is clever.

Today is a red letter day for book lovers as Will Ferguson’s latest novel, The Shoe on the Roof, hits the bookstores. Given that his last novel, 419, won Canada’s most lucrative literary award, the Giller Prize, it is safe to say this is a highly anticipated book.

Ferguson’s reputation has established him as a humorist, so it goes without saying that this is a funny read. But I can’t quite pin down why. I think it is because Ferguson sees the humour in the everyday and the unlikely. After all, 419, was a look at the Nigerian email scam that brought to life some funny aspects of a scheme that has bilked thousands of people worldwide of millions of dollars, something that really isn’t funny.cover115898-medium

The Shoe on the Roof will make you laugh and at the same time cause you to ask some important questions. It’s a look at how we as a society treat the mentally ill, at our views on child rearing, on faith and belief.

Imagine this: You break up with your girlfriend, or more correctly, she breaks up with you. You want her back, but what to do? Her brother whom she loves is in a mental institution, committed because he believes he is Jesus Christ. If you can cure him it will surely win her back. But how to do it?

For Thomas the answer is easy: convince the institution to release Sebastian into his care, where, along with two other self-confessed messiahs, he will be forced to confront his delusions head-on. What could possibly go wrong?

Can he cure Sebastian? What about the other two? Can he win the love of his psychiatrist father? Will Amy return to him? Who is killing the homeless in Boston?

Ferguson has a way of stringing words together that I really like. His dialogue rings true, and his descriptions bring a place alive. As someone who has tried his hand at fiction I know just how difficult it is to do those things well.

This is that rare book, one that manages to be both entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. It addresses serious issues, but, leavened with humour, doesn’t come across as preachy. Ferguson asks the questions; it is up to you to provide the answers.