I was surprised to see this as an Early Reviewer book on LibraryThing because I knew it had been published in 1995. I also knew it was one of Nancy Pearl's Booklust 'must reads'. This is a re-issue, now with an introduction by Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love. Barbara Gowdy is a consisently good writer and here again we find strong characterization, this time with dark humour and frank sexuality. The Canary family are unconventional to say the least. Gordon and Doris Canary are emotionally dishonest with themselves as well as others. Their habit of lies and wildly exaggerated histories spills over into the lives of their daughters, Sonja and Marcy. We laugh at some of the ridiculous things they say but with a tinge of sadness because they resort to such self-deceptions to get through life. Gowdy's characters seem almost preposterous, although she is non-judgemental and compassionate towards them and we come to understand them better once we get to know them. The story is set in the 50's and 60's during which a third child is born into their midst. A mute but musically gifted and insightful creature, little Joan becomes the unwitting keeper of all the family secrets and ultimately its saving grace. We do care about the characters after all because they protect and care for each other. But I found the sexual bits disturbing. I've heard Mister Sandman compared to both Geek Love and Arrested Development but I have read neither myself so you will have to judge for yourselves. ( )

As soon as I started to read this book, I thought it was exceptional. Often, even on some of my favorite books, it takes quite a few pages before I can really become engrossed in a novel and it's world. Here, exactly the opposite happened. I thought the story started off strong: the characters were unique and well-rendered, Gowdy's sentences were good, the story was interesting. However - surprisingly - the more I read, the less I cared about any of these. There were some episodes that caught my attention, but for the most part I found myself setting the book down after a few pages and finding something else to do instead. Perhaps it was the stretching of reality that made it difficult to identify with the characters, but I love Garcia Marquez, Kafka, and, to a lesser extent, Rushdie, so I doubt that's the reason. I think maybe the plot just slowed too much for my taste, and the characters were not strong enough to keep me reading anyway. However, overall, I don't want to imply that the book was bad; it had good moments and was occasionally amusing (although I didn't find it to be as "hilarious" as other reviews seem to make it out to be). It simply wasn't anything spectacular. ( )

This book was an enjoyable read about a rather out-of-the-ordinary family. Although this family harbors some fairly significant secrets, there is probably truth in the idea that people routinely hide their most intimate selves from the people with whom they live most closely. If you were a fan of “Arrested Development,” you will enjoy this book. ( )

“’The truth is only aversion.’” – Sonja Canary

In this beautifully written novel, the reader is introduced to each member of the Canary family. Early on it becomes clear that a great deal of how this unconventional family functions is through deceit. At first, it seems like this is a family doomed to destruction and angst. Afterall, the truth can only be buried so long. And, don’t most contemporary novels featuring highly dysfunctional families end sadly?

Happily, in “Mister Sandman”, what ultimately shines through each character’s obvious flaws is a genuine love, protection and devotion to each other that is endearing and comical. Joan, the family’s ethereal and mute youngest member, becomes the sounding board to whom the rest of the family divulges their secrets. She is a silent observer, a gravitational force that pulls the family inward and keeps it together. Later, she is also the catalyst for moving everyone together towards greater honesty with themselves and each other.

In Nancy Pearl’s “BookLust”, “Mister Sandman” is recommended as a “Coming Out” novel. Gowdy’s story is indeed frankly sexual. But whatever a reader’s comfort level with honest sexuality, I have seldom read a book with stronger characterizations, whose every sentence – nee, every word – is purposeful, thoughtful, and necessary to the story.

Though this is a family inherently averse to truth, it is their duplicity that gives them authentic dimensionality. While their dishonesty is never overtly approved of, neither is it the means to the Canary’s destruction.

“Mister Sandman” reminds me of John Irving’s early books minus the angst. I definitely want to read more of Gowdy’s books. I recently purchased “The White Bone”, a story told from the perspective of an elephant. With such far-reaching literary abilities, Gowdy deserves to become better-known in the United States.

“Mister Sandman” was an absolute pleasure to read. Despite such a vastly odd cast of characters and strange family mix, this is an uplifting story of a family whose devotion to each other rises above everything else.

“They could be a family spending a day at the beach together. If they were on a beach. If it was day.” ( )

I received this gem of a book as a review copy. Intrigued by the cover and comments on the back of the book, I stopped what I currently was reading to start this book.
I must admit I did not like the characters when I first started this book because of the horrible deceptions that each character had hidden away in their "closets". What started as a bunch of grimey, nasty, deceiving characters each became more human, letting me discover that Ms. Gowdy was accomplishing a grimey and nasty portrayal of basic human nature. I found Ms. Gowdy's writing to be quite poignant, and there were quite a few moments of surprise - almost shocking at times!
I am so glad this book found its way to me via the US Post Office and LibraryThing.Com! ( )