The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman

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Norman and Jax are a legendary comedy duo in the making, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're fifteen. But then Jax dies before they even turn twelve.

Oh my heavens. Julietta Henderson has given us a gift. I feel like I have spent time with close friends that I don't want to part ways. I laughed out loud, I sighed, I cried, I smiled and I hurt.Norman has psoriasis; this leaves his skin with red, itchy and dry patches that are sensitive to touch. Norman has always been a loner until he met Jax. Norman and Jax became the best of friends and had a dream of one day performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, but Norman is left to dream alone after Jax suddenly passes away. But when Jax dies, a heartbroken Norman decides to revise the plan. Despite the fact that Jax was the one with the comedic timing, Norman will enter the comedy festival in four weeks’ time to honor his friend’s memory. He also wants to find out who his father is—something that Sadie cannot answer.

Past tense. The book opens pretty much at Jax’s funeral. He didn’t make it to twelve, not because he was wild, but because he had asthma. Norman, on the other hand, has the most miserable case of persistent psoriasis, which underlies much of the story.Norman and his supporting cast are wonderful, well drawn characters. I could visualise each and every one of them perfectly. A brilliant and moving coming-of-age story in the tradition of Wonder by R. J. Palacio and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - this debut novel is written with tremendous humor and charm.

The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman seemed to have the right ingredients - quirky characters, a special mother and son relationship, a heartbreaking drama, a path of healing, and authentic friendships - but it felt like something went wrong in the blending process and the final product was a bit bland.Survival against impossible extraterrestrial odds: Invasion ends its second season with hope … and not? (S2, E6-10) The writer brings the reader along on Norman and his mother Sadie's journey—both of them are grappling with grief, Norman's from the present and Sadie's from the past. Over the course of the book, the two learn that grief need not define their lives; the message is that joy can always be found, even following the depths of sorrow (Hilary D). Although there is pathos and sadness surrounding the loss of Norman's best friend and comedy partner, Jax, there is love and growth and friendship and stamina and determination (Ginny H)... continued The story is narrated from the POV of both Norman and Sadie. Their grief is handled with sensitivity, not sentimentality and the heart-rending moments are balanced out with gloriously witty, sprinklings of humour - there are so many laugh out loud moments, it left me grinning from ear to ear. Ok so I don’t usually write a review because I don’t think and question too much. I just read and either enjoy. Or not enjoy. But my friend Sam from bookclub insists that I must write a review and so this is for her. Really just so she will get off my case... except she won’t. Bahahahaha

And while, there is very much a substantial element of that running through the delightfully engaging narrative, the reality is that there is also a tremendous amount of skillfully woven-in heartbreaking pain and grief.

Book Summary

So The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is as much as how you chart a way out of grief, often haphazardly and with no real grace or elegance but hopefully a new lease on life, and how even as you do something crazy, as Norman does when he seeks to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in memory of his beloved bestie Jax, you might be actually doing the sanest thing you can do for yourself. The first point squeezes her heart; the second is a surprise (even to Norman, it seems); and the third? She’s determined to make it all happen, even if there’s less than a month until the Festival starts. If you are an inveterate reader, the odds are good, better than good actually, that fellow readers or close friends (sometimes, happily, they are both) that at some point they will recommend a book to you. A book, they will assure you with a mix of solemnity and enthusiasm, is Continue Reading Well, that's the way my mother told it anyway. The way my father told it, the doctors gathered around the incubator every morning to discuss whether they'd be having my large intestine or my liver for their lunch, and whether it'd be with chips or salad. And that right there might tell you almost everything you need to know about my parents.