"Where'd You Go, Bernadette" by Maria Semple 是一本讽刺喜剧，新鲜有创意，爆笑又感人，写得精彩幽默，妙趣横生。

这部小说最特别的地方就是它的文体－－几乎全由短信、email、收据、报告合辑，中间穿插着主角Bee的独白。 就好像一个爆满的文件箱被打开，里面的文件被一一曝光，架构出故事的脉络肌理，内容荒诞、机智、夸张、又生动，似一场场滑稽剧在眼前上演，过瘾极了。

Bee是一个天资聪颖的15岁女孩，和父母一家三口住在西雅图的upscale suburb。 在旁人眼里，他们家是人人称羡的霹雳精英强强组合：爸爸毕业于MIT，在微软位居要职，领导近250人的当红project，还缔造出点阅率第四高的TED演讲；妈妈毕业于Princeton，曾经是赢得天才大奖的建筑师新星，领导绿色革命的先行者；而Bee在私立学校也出类拔萃。 但令人费解的是，外表光鲜亮丽的他们却住在一栋破烂不堪的古早女童感化院，严重漏水、杂草丛生、藤蔓从地板夹缝中破土而出，而出身建筑师的妈妈却完全视而不见。 她足不出门，把家事全外包给远在印度的网路virtual助理，跟邻居、学校家长格格不入，对西雅图、对周遭社区都怨声载道，碎碎念到烦死人。

就在全家要利用圣诞节假期去南极度假前，老妈却突然失踪了。 Bee不相信妈妈会抛下她，决心要一探究竟。 故事在这本书后1/3处有令人意想不到的转折，很夸张但也很窝心。

这本小说可爱、有趣、好玩，但不要太计较人物和意义，反正读起来很享受，给大家推荐。 马上要拍成电影了，赶快买来先‘读’为快啊。

quotes:

“That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.”

“This is why you must love life: one day you're offering up your social security number to the Russian Mafia; two weeks later you're using the word calve as a verb.”

“Maybe that’s what religion is, hurling yourself off a cliff and trusting that something bigger will take care of you and carry you to the right place.”

“I can pinpoint that as the single happiest moment of my life, because I realized then that Mom would always have my back. It made me feel giant. I raced back down the concrete ramp, faster than I ever had before, so fast I should have fallen, but I didn't fall, because Mom was in the world.” 

“Can you believe the weather?'...'Actually, I CAN believe the weather. What I can't believe is that I'm actually having a conversation about the weather.” 

“Here’s something about Mom: she’s bad with annoyances, but great in a crisis. If a waiter doesn’t refill her water after she’s asked three times, or she forgets her dark glasses when the sun comes out, look out! But when it comes to something truly bad happening, Mom plugs into this supreme calm.”