It follows the rise and fall of the Telemachus family as its members, each with his or her own unique telekinetic or clairvoyant ability, navigate lives filled with frustrations, hilarity and intrigue.

Spoonbenders is Daryl Gregory's seventh novel[1] and was inspired by Uri Geller and others who, in the 1970s, appeared on popular television shows claiming to have psychic powers.

[2] The main characters include: Teddy Telemachus, the patriarch (a con man); Maureen, his wife (a powerful psychic); their three children Irene (a human lie detector), Frankie (a telekinetic), and Buddy (a person who can foretell the future); and Matty, Irene's son who can travel outside his body when sexually aroused by thoughts of his cousin Mary Alice (nicknamed Malice).

[3][5][4] The story line of Spoonbenders moves back and forth between the 1960s, when Teddy and Maureen meet in a classified ESP study,[6] and the 1990s, when their three children are coping with life and the death of their mother.

[5][4] Gary K. Wolfe, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote: "Gregory makes excellent use of the comic potential of hapless superpowers and sets up some intriguing mysteries, but mostly the novel is a celebration of family love and self-protection.

"[2] The New York Times reviewer, Manual Gonzales, while favorable to the book overall, found the story lacking in a few places when Gregory "sped through moments that should linger" and "left loose ends untied".