Rating: 
Summary: A book about someone who ACTUALLY likes math...shocking!
Review: It's like a dream filled with numbers, romance, and an axe. It's beautifull written and much like The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. I highly recommend it to those who want to leave reality and enter the world of Mona Gray.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick with the Skirt
Review: I probably did this to myself. I read Bender's novel back to back with reading her book of short stories, The Girl In the Flammable Skirt. The problem is this: I feel Bender used lots of the little character quirks she came up with for her short stories in her larger work, the Invisible Sign Of My Own. To me, it was cheating.The book read fairly well, and it was quick and quirky, but what I didn't like about it was that it reused things from other stories, if not directly, at least in spirit. She definitely took the "knock on wood" thing from an earlier short story of her own. This all aside, I liked the writing, and felt it really worked well for me.
Rating:
Summary: Knock on wood
Review: From the moment I started the beginnings of this book, I found it absoultely irresistible. In fact, I found it very complicated to even put it down. I read through it in most of one sitting, even denying myself the simplicity of water. Aimee Bender gives us a wonderfilled, poetic story about Mona Gray. A woman, turned 20, obsessed with numbers and good luck. This incredible story reaches far into the reader, taking a life of it's own deep inside, even though far from insouciant. A must read for Plath lovers, as parts of the novel remind me of Esther Greenwood (The Bell Jar), and in reality, these two could have been best of friends, or better yet...worst enemies. Bender turns obsession and compulsion into a moving story of a woman that knows too much...and too little.
Rating: 
Summary: Mona Grey steps out!
Review: Mona Grey is a 20 year old who has become a professional quitter. Her mind rules her body with an iron fist. If she is anxious or nervous, she knocks on wood. If she finds herself physically attracted to a man she locks herself in the bathroom and eats soap until all she feels is sickness. When Mona leaves home, and her father who was diagnosed with an unspecified illness she slowly but surely comes out of her shell. She finds herself employed at the local primary school teaching Mathematics to young students, and is rewarded with their enthusiasm to learn. Through the school and classes, Mona meets students and other adults and we are drawn into their lives. There are many interesting characters in this book, some very three dimensional and unusual, others a little sketchy. All in all, it was an enjoyable book with wonderful little gems of ideas and sentences. Worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: I must be missing something
Review: "An Invisible Sign of My Own" tells the story of Mona Gray, a self-described "quitter" whose father has been mysteriously ill for many years. This book is extremely light on plot and mostly revolves around Mona's experiences as a math teacher. Mona lives in some small, unidentified midwestern town. Mona puts the "idio" in idiosyncratic. ...Let's see, Mona is incredibly neurotic and self-absorbed, has absolutely no friends and it appears she has NEVER had any, she knocks incessantly to ward off bad luck, and she eats soap and often thinks of hurting herself. What a charmer! All of these sins would be forgiveable, or at least worth reading about, however, Mona is extremely unlikeable and not very interesting. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to be much more than the sum total of her idiosyncracies. Thus, her thoughts and actions are fairly predictable b/c no matter the situation, the only thing that matters is how it affects Mona's own moods. Oh, and most important, Mona is quite a mathematician. Based on her math skills alone, Mona is offered a job of teaching math at her local elementary school. I say she was given this job based on her math skills alone because at 20, she obviously lacks the college degree needed for the job and as stated above, she is no social charmer. I am just baffled that anyone, even in a really small town, would believe that Mona Gray would be good candidate for a teaching position. Bender then takes the reader through an agonizing series of interactions between Mona as a new school teacher and a group of equally wacky, quirky children. B/c Mona isn't fit to watch a stuffed animal, one of the children is injured while under Mona's care. All of this is supposed to lead to character development for Mona. I found this book to be unsatisfying. There wasn't much of a plot and the major character was poorly drawn. I would not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical, Hilarious Tale
Review: Fans of Aimee Bender's brand of magical, hilarious and poignant short stories will not be disappointed with this novel. Present are Bender's trademarks: obsessive characters, whimsical situations, witty dialogue, and so much symbolism that you don't know where to begin deciphering her messages. This novel tracks the life of Mona Gray, a young math teacher whose fear of intimacy is salved by her obsessive, compulsive love of numbers. Her mother is a travel agent who has never traveled, her father a man suffering from a mysterious, gray disease. Mona's second grade class is filled with odd, energetic and talkative tikes. You will encounter many bizarre images: a man who wears his mood around his neck; an arm encased in glass. This is a wondrous, fabulist novel that will conjur up strange yet beautiful images months after you've finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A Compelling Terror
Review: The mention of the ax in the first line of Part One of the novel creates a kind of tension in the book that makes it a compelling read. Bender's writing is engaging and at times funny, making this novel rereadable. But I felt that there was a lot of good material (such as the fairy tale in the prologue, mathematics, and sign consciousness) that was either not used, or not used properly. I also wouldn't consider the novel's closure as satisfying, but I also wouldn't say that it crashed. The reader who expects Wittgenstein might be disappointed, but otherwise it's an engaging read. I see myself doing rereadings of this novel in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Novel
Review: Aimee Bender is one of the best of a new generation of writers. Her talent fills me with awe and envy. Though I liked some of the stories in The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, I found the novel, An Invisible Sign of My Own, to be even better. I had trouble putting it down. Don't let the cover art scare you--this book is first-rate. You'll laugh out loud at some of the passages and cry at others, all the while marveling at the beautiful way Miss Bender writes.
Rating:
Summary: Most beautiful, powerful book I've read in years
Review: Based on the wide variety of ratings for this book, it's clear that you'll either love it or hate it. If you like Alice Hoffman books and David Lynch movies (the ones with heart, not the ones just designed to shock), you'll be one of the former. The heroine, Mona Gray, an emotionally stunted obsessive compulsive, has made herself quit everything she loves ever since her father withdrew from the world 10 years ago. She takes refuge in the world of numbers, where everything is safe, ordered and predictable. But when Mona almost accidentally becomes an elementary school math teacher, she is brought out of her strange world by a young girl whose mother is dying and a fellow teacher who, thankfully, breaks through her barriers. The writing is so beautiful that you want to go back and read each sentence twice, and the lessons about learning to live with your own mortality, and that of those you love, are powerful. Overall a very weird but life-affirming book. Surely not for everyone, but definitely the perfect book for some.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Great Book
Review: While her collection of short stories "The Girl in the Flammable Skirt" was innovative, creative and imaginative, this new book by Aimee Bender is simply stunning. I cannot remember when I have been so profoundly moved by a work of fiction. The novel is brilliantly crafted and rewards the reader with an unbelievably powerful ending that is somehow both heartbreaking and life-affirming at the same time. They don't come any better than this one.
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