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Loading... A Good Familyby Erik Fassnacht
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A bit depressing but a very good portrayal of a very dysfunctional family trying to figure it out and always seeming to come up a bit short. ( ) Advance reader copy. I found this book overly long and rambling at times. The story is told from the viewpoints of different family members and I often found the chapters to be so unrelated that they didn't seem to be from the same book. I found Barkley to be the most interesting character and wanted to learn more about his life, often skimming other chapters in favor of those about him. This book seemed disjointed and I would not recommend it to friends or my book club. MFA candidate Franzen-izes his life into a semiautobiographical Epic Family Saga. Sexism and pretentious metaphors abound. I rolled my eyes a dozen times in the first chapter alone. Breasts are described as juggernauts. I just couldn't find a redeeming quality. This book isn't terrible in a vacuum but it has been done before, hundreds of times, and this incarnation says nothing new. I was hooked on this family saga from page one. The author did a great job of unfolding the character of each "damaged" member of the estranged family. Each character was interesting but Barkley, the youngest son, provides the glue to bring the family to a satisfying reconciliation. The pain of a returned vet with PTSD is felt by the other son Charlie. The author brings depth to both parents. You find yourself rooting for one and angry with the other. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. no reviews | add a review
"Meet the Brunsons of Downers Grove, Illinois. Henry is the once-magical father, whose fear of aging and endangered career lead him to the nightclubs of Chicago's Viagra Triangle. His wife Julie struggles to reclaim her life with a bottle of Zoloft and dreams of her youthful independence. Charlie, the golden-boy son, leaves the lucrative job his father arranged to serve in Afghanistan--and returns angry, damaged and uncertain of his place in the world. And Barkley, the bumbling youngest, is an aspiring writer of geeky science fiction stories now interviewing for his first job at a forbidding Catholic high school. When Henry's health abruptly declines, he tries to return to the home and the life he had dominated. But his family, once totally dependent on his love, physical strength, and income, no longer needs him. As Julie, Charlie, and Barkley begin to find their ways forward, Henry tries desperately to bring them back together. In the end, each one will arrive at a new understanding of what family can--and cannot--be. Unusually assured and perceptive, combining narrative drive with humor, insight, and powerful family dynamics, A Good Family is a memorable debut by former high school teacher Erik Fassnacht"-- No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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