Rating: 
Summary: magical prose
Review: This is such a great book. Aimee Bender is an amazing author. Her short stories are magically delicious too. *smile* But seriously, her words roll around delightfully on the tongue and in the mind. This novel seems otherwordly at times, but I was always connected and enthralled, and I laughed often as well. Enjoy. Bender presents characters with thoroughly unique world views. (I have a good friend with a few mental disorders who loved this book because Bender's characters were WAY crazier than my friend is. *smile*)
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Average Novel
Review: The world of Mona Gray, the protagonist of An Invisible Sign of My Own, is full of eccentricities. Living in a small town of modern-day America, Mona interacts with many peculiar residents. There's Mr. Jones, the hardware store owner who wears a different number each day and even her own father, a dermatologist, whose suffering from some unnamed and perhaps nonexistent disease causes him to search out inventive cures. However, Mona herself probably possesses more idiosyncrasies than anyone.From the first sentence of the first chapter, one will quickly discover that there is just something different about Mona. "On my twentieth birthday, I bought myself an ax," she declares. For me, characteristics like her crazy ideas, active imagination, and obsession with numbers make Mona all the more likable. The author, Aimee Bender, has accomplished much by telling the story of Mona in prose that captivates and draws the reader away from normalcy. It is interesting to be able to visit the mind of Mona as she deals with the struggles of daily life, such as teaching her second-grade math class. How could she have known that bringing an ax (in the shape of a 7, as she pointed out) into the classroom would result in injury? When not attempting teaching her adoring students, Mona fights the hardships of love. A self-proclaimed "quitter" since the age of 10, Mona has a difficult time keeping her new love, the science teacher. These subplots weave together to create the beautiful story of Mona Gray, seemingly a story of self-discovery. Much insight to life can be gained through Mona's view of the world. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a refreshingly charming and funny story. Thankfully, An Invisible Sign of My Own is definitely not your average novel.
Rating: 
Summary: ocd, axes and kindergarten=fantastic
Review: I have personally suffered ocd. Having read a brief synopsis of the novel (which I just finished reading) I can say that Bender has truly grasped the feeling of ritualistic behavior. Not that this fact alone, either commends or degrades a novel, is a moot point. Subjective response is something novelists long ago ignored. What sets Bender's novel far apart from others is its love of human life and all of its idiosyncracies. Purchasing an axe, could well be considered a deviant desire to subvert the existing status quo. In Bender, it simply "IS". Sometimes the most severe of human obsessions can be over analyized. Bender understands this and goes with the flow.
Many people will ridicule this novel as being non-authentic (i.e. the second grade characters don't "speak" like second graders.
Why should novels purport to be anything but unreality? As real as characters may seem in your mind, that doesn't mean that the logical flow of life should assume such straight-jacketed roles. Novels are (in essence) fiction! Bender has simply illuminated the unknown. Those strange crevices that miners are too afraid to burrow in to. If you love DeLillo, you should equally love Bender. Remember...Novels are an alternate reality. A reality that will soon be surpassed by other novelists. Her writing is so journalistic in essence, that it is difficult to divorce fiction from reality. Drown...Float within the words, except her world. Life is much better with it.
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