Rating: 
Summary: I'm surprised at the negative reviews . . .
Review: . . .I found All Families Are Psychotic bizarre, entertaining, and touching, a unique mixture that kept me turning pages for an entire night until I had absorbed everything Coupland gave us on the Drummond family. Coupland's style is straightforward and self-aware. Like in his other books (for some reason, Microserfs comes to mind immediately), he's very capable of quickly drawing in the reader with a complex cast of characters who are faulted, funny, and fully human. Matriarch Janet is somewhat the focal point from which this novel spins, but all the members of the Drummond clan have their say in this comedy that is at turns disturbing and touching, sometimes at the same time. The plot, yes, is convaluted and too neatly woven, but the sheer energy of the novel makes up for it, in my opinion. "Coupland's usual obsessions are trotted out in due order: disdain for pre-packaged culture, technophilia, contradictory character traits, and a wistful nostalgia for pop culture items," says another reviewer. But isn't that why we read Coupland? For me, this was another enjoyable foray into Coupland's head. It's not the next great American novel. But I highly doubt that's anywhere near what Coupland was aiming for.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent
Review: All Families are Psychotic is unlike most of Coupland's other novels in that it manic and extroverted instead of introverted and analyzing. This book is most like Girlfriend in a Coma, which starts with a premise believable enough, but quickly loses ties with reality in an attempt to tie myriad disparate pieces of logic togetherAIDS, bankruptcy, international gene smuggling, infidelity, baby selling, violence, the pharmaceutical industry, and NASA give the book the wrong balance of fanciful and the banal. The book is further weakened by the tenuous connections Coupland makes between these story arcs. . This formula has worked for Tom Robbins for years, but coming from Coupland the story seems . . . forced. What is most unfortunate about the book is the inconsistent dialogue. No character has a unique voice, though they are given very specific (if far-fetched) backgrounds. The Canadian housewife, the depressed son, the winsome genius daughter, even the geriatric Swiss pharmaceutical baron speak in the same suburban streetwise though they come from disparate experiences. It is far fetched to encounter a character, built up to be akin to old European royalty, speaking in American colloquialisms. That he occasionally shifts to a British grammar structure is unforgivable. True to Coupland, the book is a quick read - its 280 pages seem to zip by. Yet unlike his earlier efforts - Generation X and Shampoo Planet especially - this book lacks the unique generational voice he has become so well known for.
Rating:
Summary: Outlandish and Funny
Review: Coupland's book is outlandish, funny, entertaining--and even the slightest bit tender. Just don't take it too seriously. Although the satirical novel about the postmodern absurdity of American life has been done better before (my favorite is Don DeLillo's "White Noise"), "All Families Are Psychotic" is an interesting spin on the theme.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful quick read
Review: Coupland's books are not for all tastes, and based on some of the other reviews here I see that some people's rankings of his books are almost exactly the opposite of mine. I thought Girlfriend in a Coma was one of his most mature books, and quite possibly his best. I preferred Shampoo Planet to Generation X, and found Microserfs slow and not up to the quality of his other books. With that reflection of my tastes in mind, I thought All Families are Psychotic was of very high quality, almost as good as Girlfriend in a Coma. Contrary to another reviewer, I did find significant character development in this book (especially on the part of Wade and Janet, whose relationships with the other characters changed from beginning to end). Sure, there were some MacGuffins and deus ex machina, but it appears to me he's moving more into the Tom Robbins style--and he has always had a strong element of absurdity in his works. I found this to be a very enjoyable quick read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and Provocative
Review: I enjoyed the book, but thought the reactions of some of the characters were not convincing. For example, as people become diagnosed as HIV-infected, it's all very friendly & philosophical like catching a cold, whereas in any family, never mind a psychotic one, I think there'd be more emotion.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Provocative
Review: I enjoyed the book, but thought the reactions of some of the characters were not convincing. For example, as people become diagnosed as HIV-infected, it's all very friendly & philosophical like catching a cold, whereas in any family, never mind a psychotic one, I think there'd be more emotion.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing Book From An Otherwise Great Author
Review: I was so completely disappointed with this terrible book. I loved Generation X, Life After God, Microserfs and Shampoo Planet and count them among my all-time favourite books, but this book is garbage. Truly. I could barely finish it, and I sold it to a used book store as soon as I plowed my way through it. The plot is stupid and absurd and I almost felt embarrassed for Coupland upon finishing it. I agree with many other reviews that Coupland's work has really gone downhill after Microserfs (ie. Girlfriend in a Coma, Miss Wyoming, and this piece of trash) but I sincerely hope readers will not judge all of his work based on this one stinker. I read that Quentin Tarantino has optioned the book, but I seriously doubt even he could make this story good.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother
Review: Maybe it isn't fair to judge Douglas Coupland's work on the basis of just this one novel, but personally I do not plan on reading any of his previous works after having read this one. It's not that it was a horrible novel, it was definitely readable, and I was able to get through it without a problem. But the whole time I was reading I kept stopping and cringing at the unrealistic dialogue, the completely unbelievable incidents that just kept happening and happening, and the hopelessness of the characters in general. And the way he ended the book? Give me a break, that just seemed like a way to finish a book that couldn't be finished. I won't give it away, but I can't believe that the characters bought everything so fast.
The bottom line, as far as I'm concerned is that judging from this book, Douglas Coupland just isn't a very good writing. The dialogue is juvenile, most of the characters are sterile and full of cliches, and the story is totally insane, but it a very bad way. If the writing had been better, or the story had been better, than I could have forgiven one or the other for being bad, but neither was steller, and I truly cannot recommend this book in any way.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: the funnest Coupland book since Girlfriend in a Coma. i love it.
Rating:
Summary: An utterly brilliant and manic read !
Review: This was a great book to read, after the first 3 pages I felt myself being drawn into it, and I could see it happening, but I was drawn in anyways. Twisted little story with characters with a LOT of depth and kind of bizarre, but not to the point of over done, this was a fun and humorous read. While the characters are extreme in situation, they have a certain common feel, that you (or, at least I) can relate family with. The story is fast paced, humorous, and has some good points made about the world, well worth reading. The only issue I had with it was that it was kind of short, everything moves at a good pace and extra in it would probably destroy that, but you still want more.
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