The Family Fang by Kevin WilsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When beginning this novel, I went in with no expectations beyond the fact that several of my friends loved it and several didn't love it. I also thought it was about vampires for some reason - probably the word Fang in the title. The bottom line - this book was nothing like I'd expected it to be.
I was pleasantly surprised. It's perhaps one of the most unusual books I've read in some time. I found it to be a very readable book about a very unusual family. On the surface, it's simply an interesting take on an extremely unusual and dysfunctional family. That alone kept me interested in reading the novel. But, the author really did a fantastic job of using the family & their journey to explore a number of themes around art and family. The book was thoughtful and compelling for me. I was fascinated by the characters even though I didn't like many of them. I thought the story was very clever and kept me intrigued throughout. Words that I would use to describe this one vary - dark, unusual, touching, and (darkly)humorous. The book is really quite a contradiction.
Looking back, I'm not completely sure why I really liked this book but I did. It's one of those books that when I think of all the components, I can't find anything redeemable about them yet when put together by a good writer, it all comes together. All in all, I really enjoyed this one. I'm not sure that its a book for everyone but I do recommend it if the premise sounds interesting to you.
View all my reviews
Both left the family business to pursue other careers, but are still tethered to their wildly dysfunctional parents and past. It is both darkly funny and very sad. The novel has been compared to The Royal Tennenbaums a lot, but I enjoyed this much more.
ReplyDelete