Lost and Found

I didn't know what to expect in this, a contemporary fiction novel about the contestants in a reality TV show eerily similar to The Amazing Race, but I greatly enjoyed it. While the tensions of the competition for the reality show forms the framework for the narrative, the focus of the story is more properly applied to the characters and their relationships. The story begins when filming for the show is more than halfway over, so many of the contestants have been eliminated. Of the remaining few, the author spends most of the book focusing on mother-and-daughter pair Laura and Cassie, divorced father Carl, converted homosexuals Justin and Abby, and past child start Juliet. As the narrative eventually reveals, shows like these don't pick show more people that seem well-adjusted, so each of these players have some buried secrets or more openly-revealed problems that would make them interesting to a television audience. As they race around the world, trying to find hidden objects and solve clues that will eventually lead them to the million-dollar prize, tensions inevitably develop into conflicts and heart ache.

Within the first few chapters, we learn the secret that Laura and Cassie are hiding. Cassie, in her last year of high school, recently had a baby and gave it up for adoption. Laura didn't tell the television producers about this traumatic experience that has incredibly damaged her relationship with her daughter; unbeknownst to her, however, Cassie did. So far the news has not been revealed on the show, but the producers are eagerly waiting for the bomb to drop. Carl likewise has a family issue he is not willing to air on public television: his son has an illness, which is currently under control but with the ever-present risk of getting worse. He is doing the race with his brother, Jeff, and they have a good rapport, in spite of Jeff's clownish behavior and difficulty in solving the puzzles. Justin and Abby are not hiding anything; they were chosen for their past, as they are Christians who were once homosexual and renounced that lifestyle. Justin claims he wants to share his message with the world, but it is clear that the show producers are hoping that the pressure of the competition will force him or his wife to reveal they haven't changed their nature after all. The child stars are the least compelling of the storylines. They just want a chance to grab some spotlight after a disappointing adult acting career. Juliet does get more interesting when her plot line twines with Cassie (her partner Dallas, however, remains pretty static throughout) and she exhibits some last minute growth that I didn't expect to happen. They all intersect each other's lives in interesting ways; often tragically, but healing and the hope of change are also the results of collisions between these damaged people.

The reality television element may seem like it would dominate the story, but the game is really just the background for a quality literary fiction novel that explores many of humanity's weaknesses and flaws, and examines how we must deal with our problems in the context of relationships with others.The characters, at least those that receive the narrative's focus, are fully realized people who drive the story forward, and they held my interest for the entire read. Some I liked, and some I truly didn't, but they were all compelling. Each chapter is told in the first-person perspective, but that perspective rotates around the central characters so that every chapter is told by a different narrator. Due to this, the reader is able to view the plot from a multitude of perspectives, and can see a character from both the inside and the outside. We see the way others view a person, maybe even buy in to some of their judgements, and then it's that person's turn to narrate, and their actions are revealed as the outcome of internal thoughts and feelings we hadn't known anything about. Also, first-person point of view is a more intimate method of telling a story, which means we are quickly drawn in to a close relationship with many of the players of this story. And yes, though the reality game gimmick is not the central element, it does provide a dose of good fun, and the opportunity to examine some pop culture issues. The writing is clean and lovely, and the author's attitude to her characters is sensitive yet incisive. This is the second book I've read by Parkhurst, and both of them were beautiful books written with grace and originality. She is an author to follow, and this is a book to read. show less

Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst is a satire about reality-TV shows. It alternates between comedy and tragedy while it explores the relationships between the various contestants of an Amazing Race type competition.

As the two person teams journey around the world from Egypt to Japan and Scandinavia, the producers, cameramen, editors and host try to expose the flaws in their contestants all in the name of making a “must-see” program. The raw emotions that they expose only encourage them to continue to dig deeper to unmask secrets and reveal hidden emotions. The teams are varied and interesting, in particular Laura and Cassie, a mother-daughter team whose prickly relationships hides a secret neither wants to publicly acknowledge; show more Justin and Abby, a married couple who have denied their gay history and have declared themselves born-again Christians but are constantly wrestling with their sexual orientation; Juliet and Dallas, former child stars who can’t seem to find the spotlight that they so desperately desire. The author employs a constantly shifting perspective that works really well in bringing this story to life.

At times heart-breaking but also at times very funny, these characters are pushed to the limit by the requirements of television with it’s relentless scrutiny and lack of privacy and while, the author didn’t break any new ground here, I thought the concept was clever and the story very interesting. The characters have depth and I was both intrigued and entertained by this story. show less

“A whole life lived on television, that's what I'd be good at.” — Carolyn Parkhurst, “Lost and Found”

Anyone who likes reality TV will probably like Carolyn Parkhurst's 2006 novel “Lost and Found.” This may be why I didn't care for it. I didn't find it nearly as compelling as either “The Dogs of Babel” or “The Nobodies Album,” Parkhurst novels that sandwiched this one.

The entire novel is a reality show called “Lost and Found” in which participants travel around the world following clues that lead them to objects, such as parrots and ski poles, they must then carry with them for the remainder of their journey. Several of these participants narrate their stories, although the main characters are Laura and Cassie, show more a mother and her teenage daughter. Cassie feels guilty about giving up her baby girl for adoption a few months before, while Laura feels guilty about not even noticing her daughter's pregnancy. The show's producers, feeling guilty about nothing, hope to expose their story to improve ratings.

Finding and exposing secrets, its own game of Lost and Found, seems to be what the reality show is really all about. A couple of Christian homosexuals, married to each other in hope of beating what they view as an affliction, are others with secrets just waiting to be found. Cassie, too, has lesbian feelings she tries to keep hidden.

The line quoted above, about "a whole life lived on television," comes from Juliet, a former child star who hopes to use the reality show to springboard back into the limelight. She's frustrated to discover the producers find others in the game more interesting than her.

The novel makes easy reading. We feel compassion for most of the characters and disgust at the way the mostly faceless producers manipulate them. Yet we sense Parkhurst doing the same with her characters, making her novel, like the TV show, feel like something less than reality. show less

When I picked up Lost and Found, I had it pegged as chick-lit. You know, a kind of book that's not deep at all and just all fluffy and light, where you don't get all of those overwhelming feelings you usually get when you read a more "serious" novel. Well, I was wrong about this book. It was plenty fun, but it was also a fascinating (and sometimes heart-wrenching) character study.

I'm not a fan of reality tv (at all). I just don't watch it because most of the time I think it's fixed and watching people make complete fools out of themselves in front of billions of people (especially when it's done on purpose) just doesn't entertain me. So, if Lost and Found was focused solely on that, then I would've lost interest rather quickly. But it show more didn't and the characters were extremely different from each other and extremely flawed. The characters all have their own set of problems that run from very deep for some and from not even on the surface (or at least that we readers can see) for the others. The reality theme is really just a backdrop to all of the dramatic events that take place.

However, just because there moments of drama (which, let's face it, appear in every reality show even if it is fixed), Lost and Found also had its share of witty and often hilarious moments. While you're reading the book, it becomes obvious that the author, Carolyn Parkhurst, is mocking the whole "reality tv" thing by having the actual characters mock it as well. It can be by the mannerisms of the host to make every single thing seem full of suspense and dramatic or by the implausibility of some of the things that the characters do on camera, either way, every single point gets across and made me laugh out loud.

Even though the reality tv segment was mostly in the background (and even though I vastly dislike reality tv), I found myself enjoying all of the different tasks being given. I was reading mostly for the characters' interactions, but I'd be lying if I said that the outcome of the show didn't have me turning the pages just a little bit faster. I was so into it that I found myself thinking "This person better not win" or "Good! They're disqualified; no more screen time for them!" Lost and Found really was the equivalent to watching reality tv on an actual tv.

Lost and Found was just great! It's dramatic, humorous, and action-packed all in one neat little package. You have characters that you can root for and some that will sometimes get on your nerves (Ahem, Cassie, I'm sorry but I find myself disliking teens that feel that they're the only ones entitled to pain in literature), but overall, you just want to see what happens to all of them. You get a real sense of who a character is and what makes them tick by having them all narrate different chapters. Plus, this book did what reality tv fails to do and that is display the contestants/stars of the show as real people. Highly recommended! show less

Rating: 4 out of 5

Lost and Found is the story of a mother and daughter struggling to mend a relationship torn by deceit and mistrust—in front of millions of TV viewers. The story begins at the sixth challenge for a reality television show much like The Amazing Race, where contestants are given riddles that are hints for the next international challenge.

Cassie, a seventeen-year-old recent high school graduate, is fleeing from issues in her personal life that go far beyond typical adolescent angst; while she was trying to convince herself that she was not in love with her best friend, Mia, she was impregnated by her oft-ignored boyfriend.

To make matters worse, her mom, flush with the success of recent weight loss and a new middle-aged show more love affair, never noticed Cassie’s pregnancy. Now, months after the baby’s adoption, Laura hopes that the show will bring them closer together, but her overzealous (and belated) attempts at reconciliation only serve to push Cassie further away.

The colorful cast of characters surrounding the mother and daughter have their own problems to deal with.

Betsy and Jason were high school sweethearts reunited after twenty years… and they are remembering now all of the reasons why the relationship didn’t last past graduation.

Justin and Abby, two born-again Christians, joined the show to spread their message to the world that the “disease” of homosexuality can be cured. Hooked on Jesus, worked for them—or did it?

Carl and Jeff, two prankster brothers, seem normal enough, but beneath their jocular surface they want desperately to win the million-dollar prize to provide Carl’s son with life-saving medical care.

Former child stars Juliet and Dallas are the most straightforward, if spoiled, characters. Juliet is determined to jump-start her career any way possible, while Dallas just wants to have a good time.

And Barbara Fox, the show’s icy hostess, believes that the contestants’ secrets will be the magical ingredient that vaults Lost and Found—and Barbara herself—to fame. But how far will she go to expose those secrets to the world?

The story is told in bits and pieces from each character’s point of view. We pick up with them in Egypt and travel through Japan, Sweden, England, Ireland, and the United States. Along the way, they solve riddles and find strange items in this international scavenger hunt that could only be cooked up in Hollywood.

Barbara Fox, the hostess who purposefully presents herself as an ice queen to boost the show’s ratings, explains why the characters—and their flaws—are so attractive to TV viewers:

"Will the contestants give us the stories we want them to give us? Everyone’s here for a reason. The producers cast for conflict . . . but they also cast for story. They look for questions that the audience will want answered. Can you change your sexual orientation? What happens to child stars after they grow up? Wouldn’t we all be better off if we tracked down our first loves?"

The true story, however, is the gradual unfolding of the characters’ lives—the peeks through the curtained windows, the chinks in the armor.

Carolyn Parkhurst populates her nonstop tale with convincing characters that, step by step, reveal their hidden motivations and desires. Like any good reality TV show, Lost and Found is bursting with secrets. Cassie, as she reflects on her feelings for her best friend, Mia, perhaps says it best:

"For so long, it was just my secret. It burned inside me, and I felt like I was carrying something important, something that made me who I was and made me different from everybody else. I took it with me everywhere, and there was never a moment when I wasn’t aware of it."

Her secret, savored by no one but herself, comes to be a part of her identity. Discovering the true characters behind the walls they have erected is perhaps the most enjoyable part of the novel.

Cassie isn’t the only one with secrets—or even the only one questioning her sexual identity. Abby’s internal battle between her true inclinations and what she thinks is socially acceptable is one of this book’s shining accomplishments. Her frank account is heartbreaking in its honesty and pain. In a naive effort to combat her sexuality, she chose to marry Justin, another “recovering” gay, but her thoughts are still plagued with regret and indecision:

"Here is the strange fact of my life as I have come to live it: I feel, at every moment, two completely different kinds of shame. Shame for being the woman I was, and shame for leaving her behind."

The dichotomy between her thoughts and actions adds an intense feeling of conflict to her narrative and to the narratives of those also struggling with secret identities, a common theme of the book.

Lost and Found is a well-written novel of secrets and yearning, of self-knowledge and self-acceptance, that is simultaneously thought-provoking and entertaining. Perhaps Barbara Fox is right—who doesn’t love to watch secrets unfold?

Carolyn Parkhurst is the author of The Dogs of Babel and the upcoming The Nobodies Album. She received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University, and she lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.

Review courtesy of Inner Loop Lit: http://innerlooplit.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/discover-the-secrets-lost-and-found... show less

I don't watch reality television--ever. Oddly enough, this is the third novel I've read featuring reality television, and Lost and Found is unquestionably the best of the three. As noted above, it isn't the most original concept. What makes the novel such a pleasure to read is Parkhurst's excellent execution.

The novel takes opens in the middle of the eponymous reality show, Lost and Found. It's very much like the Amazing Race with a few twists here and there. Teams of two travel the world decifering clues on a globe-trotting scavenger hunt. The twosomes include brothers, reunited high-school sweethearts, formerly gay born-again Christians, grown-up child stars looking for a comeback, etc. As the game moves from destination to show more destination, the point of view switches from player to player and even to the host occasionally.

And this is where Parkhurst shines. These characters could easily have been cardboard cutouts. Instead, she imbues a real depth and richness into each of the players. Getting inside the heads of each one just made the unfolding dramas so interesting.

Plus, it was a fun, fast-paced story. All in all, Parkhurst's superior writing makes this a superior and very entertaining summer read. I kept wondering how she would end the novel. When the end finally came, I found myself completely satisfied with the story told. What more could you ask? show less

Lost and Found is a reality tv show, similar to The Amazing Race, where pairs of teams race around the world, in this case, on a giant scavenger hunt with extra challenges thrown in. The story is told from the point of view of various contestants, as well as the host of the show. Cassie and her mom Laura are racing together; Justin and Abby, an "ex-gay" married couple, now avid Christians; Juliet and Dallas are child stars; Carl and Jeff are brothers. Of course, most of the contestants have secrets they are hiding from the cameras.

This was really enjoyable. Especially for those who like reality tv, and The Amazing Race, in particular, this is fun. Laura and Cassie seem to be the best developed characters, though there was a lot of focus show more on Abby and Justin, and Juliet, as well. The relationships were enjoyable to "watch" - those already developed and those that developed throughout the competition. Even though fictional, the "behind-the-scenes" look at reality tv was interesting, as well. show less