The Family Fang

Can being a family be a performance piece? In The Family Fang we see the humor and the pit falls in being raised in an overly artistic house hold. Anne and Buster were actors in their parent’s performance pieces since childhood. They grew up making scenes in malls and compelling mobs to watch the seemingly spontaneous shenanigans of the Fang family. But when you’re whole life is a performance how do you distinguish fact from Fang fiction? This book was wonderfully written and a delightful new take on dysfunctional families. However, while The Family Fang is a funny novel, I found it somewhat bittersweet because Anne and Buster were always wondering if family was just an act. ~ED

THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson is a different sort of novel in a completely wonderful way. It’s an examination of a family, but the Fangs are messed up in a way unlike any other family I’ve met in literature. The parents, Caleb and Camille, are performance artists. The Fangs create their art by taking mundane settings and situations, and making them completely uncomfortable for unsuspecting onlookers. When the Fangs have children, it seems natural to bring them into the family business, and Annie and Buster (Child A and Child B) become part of every performance. As one would expect, such a nontraditional upbringing creates interesting adults who aren’t sure what constitutes normal behavior. As one of Buster’s girlfriends tells show more him after they’ve dated a year, “It’s like your family trained you to react to the world in a way that was so specific to their art that you don’t know how to interact with people in the real world. You act like every conversation is just a buildup to something awful.” The girlfriend is spot-on, and the novel follows Annie and Buster as they make disastrous decisions in their adult lives that prompt them to have to return home to Caleb and Camille. What follows is a fun and disturbing look at present-day Annie and Buster interspersed with flashbacks to some Fang family performances. The Fang children’s collapses along with the flashbacks are definitely the most entertaining parts of the novel, and although the plot drags a bit toward the end of the book, the writing still has enough little gems to keep the reader engaged and interested in how it all turns out.

This book isn’t for everyone, but if you like a bizarre story that has humor and heart, I strongly recommend you pick this one up. show less

For Caleb and Camille Fang, art is not paintings nor sculptures nor theater. Instead, the Fang's art is deeply disturbing to those who see it, drawing the audience in to be a part of the scene. The Fang's children, Annie and Buster (known to the world as Child A and Child B), grow up as a part of these escapades. For example, Annie and Buster pretend to be untalented child musicians who are heckled by strangers (actually, their parents) to see how the crowd will react. In fact, that is one of the milder of the Fang's performances. Descriptions of these performances are interspersed with the actual story, which takes place after Annie and Buster have grown up and are leading (unsurprisingly) somewhat dysfunctional adult lives. But it is show more when Annie, an actress, and Buster, a writer, decide to go home to deals with their problems that the real problems begin.

I loved this book. It's quirky plot paired with very real emotions worked for me. Wilson takes time to create multi-layered characters before introducing the turning point of the plot. As a result, Annie and Buster's reactions to a somewhat unlikely event felt very real. My one complaint was that the ending felt a bit abrupt, but despite that, I still found this to be a highly satisfying read. show less

If I could write a book it would be this one. Smart, funny, modern, creative, engaging, suspensful, and entertaining, Wilson has written what may prove to be this year's finest novel. Anytime a main character is accidentally maimed with a potato launcher the reader's experience shifts into "I can't put this down" mode. Parental units Caleb and Camille Fang are renowned performance artists and flashbacks to their happenings from the 1980's show how their two children, Annie and Buster, were central to their mission of creating havoc. Long empty nesters, the parents have set about to create their final and most outrageous act while the adult children finally try to find autonomy from a dysfunctional life they never wanted. No doubt this show more should be made into a movie (think Royal Tenenbaums or Little Miss Sunshine) but remember the book is always better. show less

As Wilson weaves the pieces of his novel into a satisfying ending, the youngest, Buster Fang who'd spent portions of the story as lost child and hapless victim, provides one of the major epiphanies, saying "Whatever it is, I think you'll be terrified when it happens. Don't let that stop you." And with that piece of advice he pulls wisdom from the chaos created by the art, and the lack of a boundary between art and life, of his parents. The book's quirkiness may not appeal to some. Some have mentioned The Royal Tenenbaums and Confederacy of Dunces. I'd also found shades of Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, both in the journey and in the creation of stories and minor works of art within the story that seemed at first so much random chaos show more until a consistent thread began to emerge. Wilson lets the reader observe the act of creation and his meditation on art, whether it's in the conception of the artist or in the reaction of the viewer, provides an idea that sticks with the reader even after the last word is read and the cover is closed. show less

Annie and Buster Fang, like so many twenty-somethings, blame their parents for the lack of fulfillment and success they find in their careers and in their personal lives. However, unlike many twenty-somethings, Annie and Buster may have a valid claim for blaming their parents for their seeming lack of autonomy and self-actualization. That's because the Fang children's parents were artists--as in Artists (that's right with a capital A and italics). And not just any kind of artists, but performance artists hell bent on causing chaos in established patterns and the unexpected in the routines of daily life.

Their parents, Caleb and Camille Fang, are nothing if not utterly dedicated to their art, which involves creating elaborate show more "happenings" in the most predictable of American venues: the mega-mall. People lulled into hypnotic trances by muzak, colorful window displays, and giant pretzels are prime targets for the art favored by the Fangs. Always admonished by their mentor that "children kill art," the Fangs create an unconventional solution to preserve their art and raise their family; Annie and Buster become Child A and Child B, props used by their parents to pull off the increasingly elaborate happenings.

Flash forward to Annie and Buster as adults. Both have managed to completely FUBAR their adult lives and return to the Fang family nest for a time-out from the real world and are immediately drawn back into the weirdness created by their parents. They immediately revert to their childhood roles. Buster becomes the sensitive younger child, always anxious to please his parents, while Annie becomes the protective older sister, encouraging Buster to challenge their parents' authority. Shortly after their return, the Fangs disappear and foul play is suspected by the authorities. Annie and Buster, however, believe this is another elaborate art piece created by their parents and must examine their seriously dysfunctional relationship with them as they search for the truth.

The Family Fang explores a dilemma faced by every family. Most parents consciously or unconsciously push their children toward their own personal passions and expect this shared love (whether it be art, football, reading, politics, etc.) to create a bond that no one can break. Problems inevitably ensue when the child begins exploring the world on his own terms and begins to assert himself as his own being. In the case of the Fangs, Annie and Buster try to create art on their own terms (in her case, acting, and, in his case, writing), but find that, after years of controlling and shaping events around them, they are ill-equipped to just let life happen.

If all of this sounds weird, it is. But it's also very entertaining and not nearly as dark as one might expect. Populated with quirky characters and clever dialogue, Wilson's narrative avoids taking itself too seriously by inserting absurdity and humor in all the right places (especially in the scenes where Annie and Buster bicker and banter like close siblings do). This is a solid 3 1/2 stars and the only reason I didn't give it a 4 is because I enjoyed the first half immensely; however, after the Fangs disappear, I felt as though the shift to the mystery plot was too abrupt and unexpected (granted, that was probably the point, but it just didn't work for me). show less

“Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art. Their children called it mischief.”

Meet the Fang family! Caleb and Camille and their children, Annie and Buster, known simply as Child A and Child B. The parents are performance artists, spending their lives, creating art out of bizarre everyday situations. The kids play along, mostly because they have no choice, setting them on a disturbing road to adulthood, mined with many psychological pitfalls.
This is a fresh and funny novel, but does contain a healthy share of dark and unsettling moments. It will not be for every reader, there is child abuse, but if you lock in, there is much pleasure to be had.

“Your in a weird place right now?’ Buster said, his voice rising. ‘Right now, right this very show more minute, I’m sitting on my childhood bed, drinking Percocet-laced orange soda out of a straw that I’m holding in the gap where my tooth used to be, before it was shattered by a potato. Mom and Dad are in the living room listening to La Monte Young’s Black Record at a ridiculously loud volume. They’re wearing Lone Ranger masks, which seems to be a recurring thing for them.” show less