Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeycutt (2017)

This is one of those books that you want to stay home and read it without stopping until you reach the last page.

Eleanor is a 31-year-old accounts receivable clerk in Glasgow, who lives a solitary, alcoholic, socially unskilled life and talks to no one but her mother on the phone. When Eleanor and new coworker Raymond are walking from work, and old man collapses and things become more complicated but in a good way. Also, Eleanor has decided that she is going to pursue an attractive young musician and sets about changing her life. BUT, there is a dark, dark secret in Eleanor's past.

Eleanor is a fascinating character of Olive Kitteridge proportions, and this quirky but dark novel is incredibly compelling.

The Stench of Honolulu by Jack Handey (2013)

 

Sometimes a book just stays with you--more than you expect. This is one of those books.

I checked this out after reading a fascinating piece in the New York Times magazine called Jack Handey Is the Envy of Every Comedy Writer in America and realizing, hey, Jack Handey (of Deep Thoughts fame really IS a real person and, incidentally, a comedy legend).

The Stench of Honolulu is a wildly weird, eccentric and surreal novel. Short and not at all sweet, with a perfect weird joke in nearly every paragraph. Absolutely original, hilarious and delightful. There's really not much else to say.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson (2011)

If you like the films of Wes Anderson, you'll love The Family Fang.  They share the same quirky family relationships, eccentricities and attention to detail.  Even the cover art is reminiscent of The Royal Tenenbaums.  In this novel, the parents (of the family Fang) are eccentric performance artists, dedicated to creating unusual and unexpected public scenes.  As the book begins, the parents have gone missing.  Their two children, often unwitting or unwilling participants in their parents' art, now grown and finding their way in the world have to figure out where they parents have gone.

This novel has a strange, eccentric, and funny charm.  And as much as I liked the novel, I LOVED the cover, and kept looking back at it as I read the book.  Shout out to book designer Allison Saltzman and artist Julie Morstad for an amazing, compelling cover.  See also Bookslut's interview with Kevin Wilson that discusses the art (and a whole lot more.)

My Date With Satan by Stacey Richter (1999)

Fabulous, inventive, winning short stories, with varied, unusual narrators and characters. Loved the story of a woman who tries to get a grant to become a crazy cat lady, the story of the guy who hooks up with a Swedish goth band to play heavy metal, and the story of an aged teen idol.  

See also Twin Study, which includes the title story about grown-up twins, one about a lapdog who gets a taste of freedom, another about a suburban couple trying to resist the pressure of Christmas decorations, and one about cavemen wandering into a contemporary California town.

Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin (2001)

Quirky and deadpan, this novel is all about NYC. Tepper likes to park on the street and read his paper while other motorists curse and swear at his "not going out." He soon becomes a celebrity and hilarity ensues.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (2008)

One of those books that you pick up to see if you like, and before you know it, you're thirteen pages into it. It's about a mob hitman turned doctor whose story unfolds over one very eventful night at the hospital. 

Interesting main character and lots of black humor.  Nearly impossible to put down.