Born Weird

Continuing Canadian writer Andrew Kaufman’s obsession with superpowers, Born Weird introduces us to the Weirds. Strange mother Annie bestows a special power on each of her children: Richard will always be safe, Abba will always be hopeful, Lucy will never get lot, Kent can beat anyone in a fight and Angie can forgive anyone.

It’s a shame that none of these powers end up working in the way that Annie intends them to. They become albatrosses around each of the kids’ necks, a wedge that drives them all apart. When Annie is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she tasks forgiving Angie with bringing all her children together so she can lift these curses and they can live as normal lives as possible.

The book deals with dysfunction and family rifts in a breezy comedic style that veers between pathos and comedy. Kaufman writes in clipped wondrous sentences that give a great deal of warmth to his doomed characters. Like his previous novel, All My Friends Are Superheroes, the book wildly crisses-crosses between the present and the past, offering a series of situations that are both funny and warm.