The Family Fang
By Kevin Wilson
- Release Date: 2011-08-09
- Genre: Fiction & Literature
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME, PEOPLE, SALON, AND ESQUIRE
“The Family Fang is a comedy, a tragedy, and a tour-de-force examination of what it means to make art and survive your family….The best single word description would be brilliant.”
—Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto
A funny, poignant, laugh-and-cry-out-loud (sometimes at the same time) novel about the art of surviving a masterpiece of dysfunction. Meet The Family Fang, an unforgettable collection of demanding, brilliant, and absolutely endearing oddballs whose lives are risky and mischievous performance art. Basis for the major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman and Christopher Walken.
Annie and Buster Fang have spent most of their adult lives trying to distance themselves from their famous artist parents, Caleb and Camille. But when a bad economy and a few bad personal decisions converge, the two siblings have nowhere to turn but their family home. Reunited under one roof for the first time in more than a decade and surrounded by the souvenirs of their unusual upbringing, Buster and Annie are forced to confront not only their creatively ambitious parents, but the chaos and confusion of their childhood.
“It’s The Royal Tenenbaums meets Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I’d call The Family Fang a guilty pleasure, but it’s too damn smart….A total blast.”
—Hannah Pittard, author of The Fates Will Find Their Way
Reviews
Fangastic
5By branbun1Excellent! Riveting! Unique!A Book with Many Twists and Turns.
5By Taylin ShoemakerVery mature and exciting book about a screwed up family and their struggles to do great things. Begins with the children in their own adult lives then twists and turns many times to evolve into a semi-detective story, and a quirky romance, to come back to a point when everyone comes to find themselves in a better place then when they started.Perfect
5By cacobeAn amazing novel that I was always excited to pick up. I recommend this to everyone! Had so much fun reading it. And wish there was more! I fell in love with the fang family.Clever and entertaining
5By CheesemoleoThe Family Fang is probably the best book I've read this year. It is, at once, laug-out-loud hilarious and heartbreakingly sobering. Wilson, like the characters he crafted, can't help but produce something of beauty.100 Words or Less
4By JRubinoWhat impressed me most about this novel was how simple it was. Simple, yet deeply funny and warm. I never quite knew what might happen next and that kept me jumping into each new chapter straight away. The characters were unique. The plot was weird, but somehow totally believable. And the writing was superb. Every now and then I’d hit a sentence that was so beautifully witty and funny and pitch-perfect. By the end, I was thoroughly wrapped up in this crazy family. Quite an accomplishment.So-so
3By Qwerty99887766I read this for book club. Unfortunately for this book, the previous book was A Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan), a complex, clever, intriguing, and beautifully written story, a very hard act to follow. This book felt like it wanted to be these things but never got there. I was drawn to the premise, but I really never became terribly interested in the characters A and B--I did feel kind of sorry for them but didn't feel much beyond that. The story itself didn't hook me until page 170 or so, 2/3 the way through the book. The writing itself contained occasionally interesting bits that showed the author knows how to turn a phrase but was otherwise just ok. I will say that the book will probably generate some good discussion about art, family, child exploitation, etc. Also, I would like to learn more about this type of performance art (do people really get $300,000 grants to do such things?).A beautiful touching book
5By NutellaplusplusMakes me want to keep reading more but also make me wanna slow down to savor every line. A novel about family and love in a quasi magical reality. Wonderful book.The Family Fang
5By Yakyak57The parents are outlandish. The children obey their parents as good children should. The book gets you hooked and you want to see what happens next. In this day and time you can relate to the disfunction that haunts the kids into adulthood. A zany disfunction that has twists and turns that you do not expect.Could not put down
5By Auggie's ManFirst book in a long time that made me resent every intrusion into my reading of. Fascinating. So well written. BravoThe Family Fang
5By MauriceVAt first you'll find the whole premise strange, but very intriguing. The more you read the closer to home it hits and you are completely hooked. Refreshingly different and utterly brilliant!
