Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny is an original, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking story about the nature of marriage, loss and infidelity. Graham is married to Audra, a beautiful but irritating chatterbox of a woman whom he left his prim wife Elspeth for. The novel explores the complex nature of Aspergers syndrome and is filled with an interesting cast of characters. It is a joy of a book, beautifully observed and written.

Absolutely delightful, heartwarming, hilarious, and entertaining. Like a scrumptious mix of the best parts of Maria Semple's TWBD and Sarah Dunn's THE ARRANGEMENT. I wish every novel were this fun, smart, and enjoyable.

The narration follows Graham's voice through his married life with Audra, a vivacious busybody who is 15 younger to him. While Graham is a despondent middle aged man, Audra is one of those outspoken women who puts you at ease as soon as you meet her and then becomes your friend for life. Her life is no wonder full of 'friends, acquaintances and other people that Graham never knew.' They have a 10-year old son Mathew who has Asperger's and is obsessed with origami. Their life has no dearth for adventure between arranging play dates for Mathew and hosting house guests who were on a break from their spouses.

We follow their lives through weddings, deaths, infidelity and United Nation days. Graham feels out of place in the grand plans of Audra and her friends that he seeks recluse in his cold, emotion free first wife, Elspeth. Audra wants to be friends with her as well. Being with both the women he had loved Graham realizes the vast differences between them. What does a man need - the ever glowing sunshine or the cool detachment? Read on Standard Deviation to find out.


If you are looking for a storyline with twists and thrill, you are in for a sore disappointment. In fact, there is no plot. We get a wry, whimsical glimpse into their life. It is often funny, not in the way that would make you laugh out loud (though I did once or twice) but that makes you chuckle.


Maybe we had had too many books with the female point of view lately that it was so refreshing to hear a male voice talking about his view of life. Graham's thoughts about parenthood and infidelity would be easier to relate as they are not accusative, but in a funny quirky manner.


Some may find the pace of the book to be slow and drag, especially in the middle where the narrative becomes too generic that probably spoke of the satirical opinions of the author rather than Graham. But it again gains momentum towards the end, which was rather abrupt.

If you loved books like 'I Feel Bad About My Neck' or 'High Fidelity,' grab this satire comedy and spend your afternoon chuckling with delight.

This book was not for me. I read it the whole way through but found it very sad in a
hopeless way, slow moving and dreary. Not my kind of book I'm afraid, others have enjoyed though.

I read A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart earlier this year. It was OK, but I wasn't in love with the character of the father and found him to be selfish and needing to grow up more than his son. Standard Deviation's viewpoint character is a father with a son with autism and a more likeable and caring father you'd be hard pushed to find. 

Graham is married to his second wife, Audra, a woman to whom saying good morning is likely to get you an invite to dinner and an active interest in your affairs. She has an almost childlike quality to her, saying what she things, seeing everyone as a potential friend. Together, Audra and Graham discover their son has an interest in origami and take him to a weekly origami club where he makes friends for the first time in his life. The fact that these friends are all adult matters not to Matthew and his parents see the same characteristics in these grown ups as in their son. They are outsiders, innocents, and utterly obsessed with folding bits of paper.

When Graham's first wife Elizabeth re-enters his life, things start to get complicated and Audra, who couldn't be more different from Elizabeth, tries to make her a part of their family.

That, really, is all that happens in this wonderful, funny book. Rather than relying on a fast driven plot, Ms. Heiny gives us an affectionate character study which details the small changes that can happen in anyone's life.

I loved all the characters. The author always stayed on the right side of caricature while creating characters that are so much larger than life. The sensible Graham grounds the others, rooting them all to reality, and making them totally believable.

This is a lovely, funny book that left me smiling. Recommended.

Brilliantly observed novel about bringing up an autistic child in a family circle where all of the characters seem to have their own issues interacting "normally" Not an awful lot happens but it was bright and funny, would have read it in one sitting if I'd had a little more time.

This is waspish.

The story is almost slight and seems inspired by the song "What New York Couples argue about"

Where this book succeeds is that the humour is fresh , almost black (call it dark gray) , some lines float out of the book and implant themselves in your mind and it feels real even if like me you will never occupy the main characters lives.

What i mainly liked is the book never really travels far there is no learning of lessons and no sense that the characters want to learn , rather they just want to get through the hours they are awake with the minimum effect on their lives, which may make me not a likeable person but feels a solution to modern life.

This is a novel populated by monsters but monsters that we all recognise especially in the mirror.

Highly recommended

I absolutely loved this book! Such a realistic yet surreal look at domestic life in the 21st century. I want to be friends with Audrey! All the characters are perfectly unique and each plays their part fantastically. Brilliant.

I chose this book primarily based on that it was a comedy, but I have to say a comic it was not, I did not find it funny at any point.
If this book was a colour it would have to be beige or grey as it was very dull. The characters I found quite boring and bordering on the point of annoying, but that would have made them interesting. I failed to see that there was a story line other than the dull meandering of a couple of middle aged New Yorkers living a bog standard life, having an everyday relationship.
It's saving grace was that it was easy to read, and the fact it was only 320 pages or so made it easier to finish, if it had been over this I believe I would have given up on it. I would rate this book 1/5.

Goodreads review (the blog one is much longer!) I really enjoyed this. I don't think I'd want to be friends with Audra or Graham, but watching their life is great fun. Audra is an exhausting person to read about, let alone live with but that makes her a great subject for a book. I also really enjoyed the bittersweet portrayal of relationships and parenting and the difficulties of navigating a relationship with your ex. I know I'll be recommending this.

Standard Deviation

After being sent an email about this book, I really wanted to read it!!

I really can't recommend this book enough, it's a heart warming and heartbreaking tale of love, marriage, infidelity and origami that made me laugh out loud in some places! 5 shiny stars!

Graham lives a cosy life, with his talkative second wife, Audra, and their son, Matthew. Audra is the complete opposite of Graham’s first wife, Elspeth, and although he loves her very much, their life is full of challenges: Audra’s lack of tact, their constant rotation of house guests, infidelity, and raising a child with Asperger’s. In the middle of managing day-to-day life, Elspeth re-enters Graham’s life and he finds himself questioning his life choices, and those of the people around him.

The main thing to note about this book is that the plot isn’t particularly eventful or exciting. We follow Graham’s day-to-day as he navigates his relationships with Audra, Matthew, Elspeth and everyone else. But by no means does this make the book boring. Standard Deviation is beautifully written, and I was completely sucked in despite there not actually being an awful lot going on.

I really loved the story being from Graham’s point of view. His thoughts are relatable and amusing, which really made the book easy to read. I also loved the other characters – Audra in particular is fabulous and Graham’s devotion to her, despite everything, was really sweet and nice to read. All the supporting characters make their own little impacts, my favourite being the origami club because they are, quite simply, adorable weirdos.

The one and only thing I disliked about this book is that there were a couple of unanswered questions at the end (what was Audra doing at that hotel?) which was annoying but also kinda reflective of real life, so maybe that was intentional.

I was genuinely upset when the book ended. I could have read about Graham and his life forever.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very strange book which i sort of enjoyed.I liked the story of the family but it did not seem to go anywhere and I could not see any deeper meaning.
In the end I wondered why I had persevered and would not recommend it to my library customers.

A fantastic and engrossing read, The writing was intricate and addictive.

The story of Graham, Audra and Matthew as told by Graham, who is experiencing parent-hood for the first time and marriage for the second time. It is wryly funny, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny and Audra in particular is a force to be reckoned with, she can make conversation with absolutely anyone and usually becomes their friend. Matthew is (probably) Asperger's but this isn't made the only focus of the book rather it is part of the rich tapestry of life. Some very funny scenes and some poignant ones, an excellent entertaining read.

A funny refreshing take on family life, dealing with tough issues but in a light-hearted way. Good character driven story

novel about love, marriage, fidelity and origami...

Audra is Graham Cavanaugh's second wife and Mother to their son, Matthew a sufferer of Asperger's. Audra is fun, pretty, quirky, chatty, optimistic and very likeable. Basically, she is everything that Elspeth, Graham's first wife is not.

This is fine, Graham is content for them to be opposites, after all what attracted him to Audra, made him leave Elspeth for her. However when he bumps into is ex-wife, Audra is convinced that they should invite Elspeth into their life's and that the two woman should become friends.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that Audra is pretty much friends with everybody.

Graham isn't convinced, but he knows that Audra won't let it lie unless they invite Elspeth and her new partner around for dinner, and so they do, and Graham begins to wonder what it would still be like to be married to Elspeth.

Meanwhile Matthew is obsessed with origami, and wants to be invited to an exclusive origami club, where only the best are allowed to be members. Luckily Matthew's talent speaks for itself and so Audra and Graham accompany their son to his origami meetings.

Both of them want the best for their son, even if that means being driven totally insane by the other members of the origami club. To say they were an eclectic bunch would be a vast understatement.

Standard Deviation is about everyday life, the struggles that we can all have with it, and how if we know how and try hard enough, that anyone in any situation can make the best of it...

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny.

3 stars.

Dysfunctional human relationships...

This was an unusual read! 'Standard Deviation' was certainly rather different because it didn't really have any plot at all.

The author delves into the realms of dysfunctional human relationships. Her characters are quirky and occasionally make you smile, but unfortunately, I kept waiting for the plot to unfold.

We learn about Graham, a New Yorker, who is married to Audra his second wife. They have an 'unusual' son Matthew, whose sole passion is origami. Issues are raised such as infidelity, anxiety, autism and eccentricity. How does Graham's first wife fit into the lives of Graham and Audra? All rather strange...

When I write my reviews I often find that my opinions are similar to other reviewers. However, this time I'm completely out of sync, but I have to be honest and admit I was relieved when I had finished - hence I could only give three stars.

Galadriel.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

To be published in numerous magazines in August: Graham’s second wife, Audra, is warm, sociable and always ready to throw herself headlong into any situation. The total opposite of his first wife, Elspeth, in fact. So when Elspeth unexpectedly comes back into Graham’s life, he finds himself wondering how on earth he could have fallen in love with two such different women, and whether he’s ended up with the right one. If you like quirky characters, wry humour and reflections on the absurdities of everyday life, this book is for you.