Family and Other Accidents: A Novel

I reckon this is a pretty good piece of writing. OK, its context is very much middle class America in modern times, and it doesn't attempt to say anything about any other situation, so that might be seen by some as a limitation. Not me though - I'm happy to do my own extrapolation - and besides, my world is very much middle class and not very far from American in terms of values. It seems to me that the book has two goals: to paint a picture of the relationship between two brothers; and to say something about the reality of marriage-type relationships. I don't know about the brothers bit - my brother and I don't relate like Goldhagen's brothers, and I don't know any other men well enough to know how they relate to their siblings. But show more the general description of the relationship issues is entirely believable to me. Goldhagen describes marriage-type relationships which are imperfect from the start; which break up incompletely; in which sex plays an important but very confusing part; and which tend to be patterned from parent to child. That's pretty accurate to me and reading her description does help me reflect on my own life (which is, after all, why I read fiction). show less

This is not my usual fare and I can't remember how I heard about it but I'm delighted I did. Connor is a pre-teen when his mother dies and a teenager when his father dies. It's left to his brother, Jack, 10 years his senior to stand in as his family. Goldhagen chronicles the ups and downs of this relationship over several decades in fascinating chapters that nearly stand on their own as short stories. It's really kind of fascinating to read.

On the back of this book - one of the reviewers in their blurb used the word "funny" to describe this novel.

I am not sure that I found anything about this story funny. Sure - maybe there were moments when a flicker of a smile of recognition might have crossed my face when some character did or said something that rang true - but i would be hard pressed to find a single example of something funny or even light that happens in this book.

that being said... it was a well written, absorbing novel. The characters are well drawn and the plot broke my heart several times over. It is so full of terrible things that happen to the main characters (and things they do to themselves) that it stops me from saying that I loved the book. It's show more definnitely not a book I would suggst to read when you are depressed or heck - or as fun reading at the beach for that matter...

nevertheless - it was well written - and i stayed interested in the characters throughout the story.

recommended. show less

This book was a great surprise in 2006. I bought it on a whim at Barnes & Noble and fell in love with it. I probably read it in a few days, no more than four. Impossible not to connect with a story of love and sorrow and loss and doubts and all that mess... This book is very candid when dealing with people's self-created little tragedies, and I found that refreshing.

bought it because i loved the cover. didn't expect much from the story...but i became surprisingly attached to the characters, and moved by the story telling. read it.

I don't know why I didn't stop this book half way through. It was just not a good book for me, IMO. And yet I worked my way through it and finished it. The end was no better than any other part of it. I was hoping the end would be good! Oh well.

259 pages. About 2 brothers born 10 years apart the youngest being an acident. How they survive and the relationships they have after their parents are gone. an intresting read, better than I though it would be. released.