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The Family Fang

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 10,263 ratings · 1,911 reviews

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art.

Their children called it mischief.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madc...more

Hardcover, 309 pages

Published August 2011 by Ecco

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Kirkus Best Books of 2011

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Jun 12, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 performanc...more 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 "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 real world time-out. Immediately drawn back into the weirdness created by their parents, Annie and Buster 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 their own brand of art (in her case, acting, and, in his case, writing), but find that, after years of their parents controlling and shaping the 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).

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder and at Shelf Inflicted (less)

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Apr 01, 2013 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-abhor

The more time that passes, the more I dislike the book, and am flummoxed that this insensate drivel was the darling of the publishing industry when it was released. The prose was nothing more than serviceable, and the characters of Caleb and Camille were caricatures. What stands out, and kept me reading (and hoping) till the end, was the bond between Buster and Annie. I kept waiting to be moved or fastened. Instead, I experienced a penetrating boredom, and when the ludicrous, melodramatic denoue...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Anita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Performance Art. Until now, everything I knew about it was from the movie Legal Eagles and the David Sedaris hilarious account of his own days as a performance artist. Thanks to this book, I now consider myself an expert.
Not happy with "dead art" that simply hangs in museums, walls, or just sits there, Camille and Caleb Fang spend their life "forcing their art onto unsuspecting people; he made them part of the piece, and they didn't even know it . . .But if they didn't know what was going on, h...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Autumn rated it 2 of 5 stars

'The Family Fang', by Kevin Wilson, was a troubling read for me. It is the story of the Fang Family, two parents and two children. Mr and Mrs Fang are performance artists, staging 'shocking' spectacles in public places in the name of 'art'. Their children are both pawns of their art and sometimes willing, often unwilling, participants. The book shifts perspective between the 'growing up' years of Annie and Buster (the kids), and the present of their adulthood. This book seems to be asking the qu...more 'The Family Fang', by Kevin Wilson, was a troubling read for me. It is the story of the Fang Family, two parents and two children. Mr and Mrs Fang are performance artists, staging 'shocking' spectacles in public places in the name of 'art'. Their children are both pawns of their art and sometimes willing, often unwilling, participants. The book shifts perspective between the 'growing up' years of Annie and Buster (the kids), and the present of their adulthood. This book seems to be asking the question, "Will the kids be all right, no matter what, as long as they're not abused in a traditional sense?" The answer is a resounding, "No."

Buster and Annie are profoundly not okay. Not at all. Both are addicts, both sabotage their careers, both undervalue themselves except in so far as how they are viewed by others, neither has a stable relationship. After each having their individual lifequake, they find themselves in the last place either ever wanted to be again: home.

I wanted to like this book, and there were definitely shining moments of comedy and pathos that kept me from closing the cover, never to return. It was close, though. The problem is not so much Wilson's writing as the fact that it was so difficult to find a genuine moment in the book, something that caught my attention and especially emotion, making it possible for me to give a damn what happened to these characters. Look, I'll be honest: this book is derivative as hell, of both John Irving (master of the dysfunctional family-remember 'The Hotel New Hampshire'?) and of Wes Anderson (remember 'The Royal Tenenbaums'?). Many of the events seemed to have been pulled out of the 'I gotta do something WACKY now' hat, and in a way that was not at all believable. Irving can do these things, because he has the ability to make all the insane events that occur in his novels BELIEVABLE. He ties them into the narrative in such a way that they seem inevitable, rather than random. Anderson has this same ability. Wilson, unfortunately, does not, at least not yet. He does seem to have a genuine talent hiding under his borrowed plumage, and I'd love to read something by him when he finds his OWN voice. (less)

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Feb 13, 2013 Alena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-reads

I am overjoyed when a book not only meets my expectations, but exceeds them. After reading this author's short story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories, I watched and waited for a full novel. He did not let me down.
Darkly comic (and sometimes just dark), the Fangs live at the border between life and art.
"Art, if you love it, was worth any amount of unhappiness and pain. If you had to hurt someone to achieve those ends, so be it. If the outcome was beautiful enough, strange...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Jenna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Aside from the fact this book reads like a Wes Anderson movie (Royal Tennenbaums, Rushmore), you would be wrong to dismiss it as just a living diarama of a dysfunctional and dramatic family. The writing is personal and bald, embarassing and heartening as any honest family history can be. But the Family Fang isn't an ordinary family. Caleb and Camille stage experiemental art from the uncomfortable chaos they impose on unsuspecting audiences. Their children, Child A and Child B, are raised and tra...more

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Sep 11, 2011 David Jordan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to David by: revierws

This intriguing novel tells the story of the daughter and son of a married couple who warped their kids’ personalities by using them as props/henchmen in a career of “performance art” happenings, staging and filming bizarre, uncomfortable public events (pathetic preteens perform a cacophonous musical concert to raise money for their sick dog’s surgery, while incognito parents incite passersby to boo and heckle, etc.). Setbacks propel the children, now thirty-ish and struggling to survive as an a...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Eric Kibler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Meet Annie and Buster Fang. She's a film actress. He's a gonzo journalist and failed novelist. Both of them are pretty screwed up because of their common childhood. You see, their parents, Caleb and Camille are conceptual artists whose medium is to cause emotionally upsetting events in public places, like shopping malls. In these enterprises, they used their children (called for art purposes "Child A" and "Child B"). The Family Fang's events could be compared to flash mobs, only more unpredictab...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Gulen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3,5 aslında. İtiraf etmeliyim ki ismini görüp ilk başta vampirleri ve günümüzdeki vampir romanları çılgınlığını ti'ye alan bir kitap sandım sonradan konusunu öğrendim; eğlenceli olabilir diye düşündüm ve aldım.

Genel olarak şeker bir kitap ama o kadar, film izliyormuşsunuz tadı veriyor ki zaten filmi de çekiliyormuş. Şimdi spoiler kısmına geçelim;

Camille ve Caleb Fang kendilerini performans sanatına adamış bir çifttir ve bu adamışlığı uç noktalarda sürdürmektedirler, hayatlarında önemli olan tek...more 3,5 aslında. İtiraf etmeliyim ki ismini görüp ilk başta vampirleri ve günümüzdeki vampir romanları çılgınlığını ti'ye alan bir kitap sandım sonradan konusunu öğrendim; eğlenceli olabilir diye düşündüm ve aldım.

Genel olarak şeker bir kitap ama o kadar, film izliyormuşsunuz tadı veriyor ki zaten filmi de çekiliyormuş. Şimdi spoiler kısmına geçelim;

Camille ve Caleb Fang kendilerini performans sanatına adamış bir çifttir ve bu adamışlığı uç noktalarda sürdürmektedirler, hayatlarında önemli olan tek şey sanattır. Camille istemedikleri halde hamile kalıp bebeği de doğurmaya karar verdiğinde, çocuklar sanatı öldürür diyen akıl hocalarına aksini kanıtlamak için daha bebekken bile çocuklarını sanat adı altında oluşturdukları kaosa dahil ederler. Kitap her iki çocuklarının da artık 30lu yaşlara geldiği dönemde başlıyor ve bir bölüm günümüze bir bölüm ise geçmişte yaptıkları bir sanat çalışmasına ayrılmış.

Aradan geçen yıllar sonunda ailelerinin kendilerini bir dekor olarak kullandığını anlayan ve onlardan uzaklaşan çocuklardan biri aktrist diğeri ise yazar olmuştur ve kariyerlerinde inişe geçmişlerdir. çeşitli sebepler ile ailelerinin yanına dönerler ve kısa bir süre sonra da anne babaları kaybolur. Herkes öldüklerine hükmederken kardeşler bunun onların son sanat çalışması olduğu konusunda emindirler.

300 sayfalık nispeten kısa bu kitapta, ailelerinin (özellikle babalarının) saplantılı sanat tutkusuna kurban edilmiş, duygusal gelişimleri sekteye uğramış çocukların aileleri ile nefret/sevgi ilişkisi anlatılmaya çalışılmış ancak romandan öte bir senaryo havası vardı kitapta. Belki biraz daha uzatılarak daha derin bir hava verilebilirdi. Romanın ana fikrini yukarıda bahsedilen ebeveynlerin akıl hocası özetliyor aslında; "Yanılmışım, çocuklar sanatı değil, sanat çocukları öldürüyormuş".

Okuyacak başka bir şeyiniz yoksa okuyabilirsiniz,ama bence kesinlikle kapakta belirtildiği gibi yılın kitabı değil.(less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Nathan James rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Emily Buckler

Shelves: 2012, glbtfriendly, alltimefavorites

I don't think it's a book for everyone, but the themes of this book aligned for me personally and I really enjoyed it. The effects of creativity on people's lives; both pretty and ugly. Bad parenting skills. The meaning of home. Recognizing avoidance in one's every day life. Heavy stuff.

There's a lot of quirk out there and I'm a fan of most of it (see review of Geek Love, for Pete's sake.) Quirk, though, can get annoying pretty fast (Zoe Deschanel). The quirk in this book feels justified, mostly...more I don't think it's a book for everyone, but the themes of this book aligned for me personally and I really enjoyed it. The effects of creativity on people's lives; both pretty and ugly. Bad parenting skills. The meaning of home. Recognizing avoidance in one's every day life. Heavy stuff.

There's a lot of quirk out there and I'm a fan of most of it (see review of Geek Love, for Pete's sake.) Quirk, though, can get annoying pretty fast (Zoe Deschanel). The quirk in this book feels justified, mostly because the plot revolves around 2 people trying to see past it.

Quick summary: Performance artist parents bring their two children into their art to the detriment of their relationship.

SPOILERS AHOY!
******************

So, the themes, the themes! My favorite aspect of this book are the conflicting emotions Annie and Buster experience after their parents disappear. Do they or do they not want to find them? Other pieces of quirk could have made this conflict ridiculous and over-the-top. But Kevin Wilson keeps it real. There are very true emotions in this book. And I think most people will be able to identify with the love/hate relationship they have fostered with the misguided, imperfect people they call their parents.

This story also took me back to my mid-twenties when I was just starting to figure out who I was and what I wanted (a process that continues). Bad decisions and drinking may or may not have been involved. Returning to bad relationships were definitely involved. To add parents that used me as a prop for my entire childhood would have complicated these situations to a point that I don't care to speculate. The author, in my opinion, does a fine job of making his main characters wobbly in their age, but still grounded enough to be a counterpoint to the wacko parents.

Kevin Wilson also does a good job incorporating the up-side of being raised by parents who constantly stuck you in difficult situations and left you to figure out how to get out of them for yourself. Annie's career choice makes perfect sense here, where in other stories it would have leaned more in my mind toward fantasy.

The artistic sensibility in this book seems genuine. A few of the performance pieces are maddening. I wish I'd thought of them. Also, Camille's paintings are AMAZING. I wish someone would paint them. Or maybe I don't because they're pretty upsetting. I tell you what though; even now I can sit here and vividly imagine at least 3 of them. Inspiring. Unforgettable.(less)

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Nov 26, 2011 Gail rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm torn about this book — there's one part of me that loved the quirks and oddities of the Fang family (parents Caleb and Camille, son, Buster, and daughter, Annie, who are performance artists of the "Let's stage a scene in public and call it art" variety). But there's another part of me that wanted to love them more than I did. Love them in a way I could identify with them somehow (say, the way I did with Jonathan Tropper's Foxman family from his "This Is Where I Leave You"). In the end, the o...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Catherine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, dysfunctional-family, over-rated

Don't be misled. This book is touted as a comedy, with the title and cover art echoing that impression, but I just didn't see much humor in it. The main characters, Annie and Buster, are scarred and broken by their childhood, by their parents' manipulation and, well, abuse. I felt like the Fang's "performance art" was a metaphor for other ways parents damage their children.

The "performance art," as other reviewers have commented, is hard to swallow. They create chaos -- most of the flashback se...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 23, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

I heard a review about this book - it was a comedy, a fascinating look at family dynamics, a riotous romp about crazy parents and the impact they have on children. Honestly, I just found it really depressing. Two narcissistic adults who care for no one but each other, including their own kids who are just pawns and characters in their "art" pieces. I pushed through to the end because I kept hoping for some type of redemption. I guess I got it in that the siblings pull together and form their own...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Brynna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, family, thinking

First, as others have remarked, this book was very incorrectly marketed as a somewhat tragic comedy when it is actually a somewhat comic tragedy. Rereading the blurbs on the back when I had finished it, I found myself disagreeing with most of them and wondering if they had actually finished the book themselves.

However, this is definitely a worthwhile read. It was a pretty quick one, but has kept me thinking since I finished it, which is unusual. It is well constructed and I found both Buster and...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Eric Klee rated it 4 of 5 stars

THE FAMILY FANG was an enjoyable read about a dysfunctional family. Think: Running with Scissors.

Camille and Caleb Fang are artists; however, not in the traditional sense. They like to stage shocking events and watch (and sometimes record) people's reactions. To them, that's real art. "This is what we do. This is what the Fangs do. We make strange and memorable things."

Inevitably, the Fangs have children and begin to involve them in their stunts, all in the name of art. Years of this (sometimes...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Marie/Mimi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just wrote a pretty lengthy review of this that my phone just "forceclose"d on and so let's just say I'm a little peeved and no, I will not rewrite it.
In short, this is a wonderful book that I actually think I want to read again. Annie and Buster are the children of two famous artists and were forced, as children, to participate in their parents' public live performance art pieces. These scenes were meant to shock bystanders and create mayhem, thus the family never knew what would happen dur...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Bill Krieger rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Family Fang is light reading with lots of cute, catchy "hooks", like a pop music album. For example, Fang: the title and family name. The parents are performance artists who stage weird events that they consider high art. For example, they set their children up as street musicians and then rudely heckle them, to the chagrin of the crowd. It reminded me a bit of the TV show Jackass. Those children, Annie and Buster, are referred to as A and B, denoting their roles as mere props for their parents...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

I listened to the audiobook edition, and I highly recommend it as an especially appropriate format for this book, as the story centers around performance art. This was one of those books that I expected would fill my drive to work nicely, but I didn't really start listening with huge expectations for a lasting impression. I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself totally drawn in by the reader, laughing out loud within the first 5 minutes of the Fang family's first "event." The story is gre...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Sandie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists. They live to create their performance pieces; nothing in their lives is more important. Their two children, Annie and Buster Fang, seem to be nothing more to them than pieces on a chessboard to be moved around and manipulated to create the most shocking effects. They even identify the children as nothing more than Child A and Child B. The Fang artistic touchstone is controlled chaos. They go into a setting such as a mall, create a chaotic situation...more Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists. They live to create their performance pieces; nothing in their lives is more important. Their two children, Annie and Buster Fang, seem to be nothing more to them than pieces on a chessboard to be moved around and manipulated to create the most shocking effects. They even identify the children as nothing more than Child A and Child B. The Fang artistic touchstone is controlled chaos. They go into a setting such as a mall, create a chaotic situation, then record the reactions of the bystanders.

But children grow up. Buster and Annie are now grown and both feel damaged by their upbringing. Annie is an up-and-coming actress with a couple of movies to her credit. Buster has written two novels. But both are self-destructive in varying ways and can’t seem to put together a constructive life or relationships that are meaningful. The only lasting relationship they have is with each other, as they basically raised themselves and always felt that only their sibling was in their corner to rely on.

As the book opens, both Annie and Buster have moved back home. Buster has been injured while writing a freelance magazine article while Annie has fled several destructive relationships and bad choices. Home feels familiar, but soon Caleb and Camille start trying to draw them back into performing their latest ideas. Both children resist, fighting against the ties they can’t help but feel for their parents, but knowing that giving in will only damage their self-esteem more deeply.

Kevin Wilson has created a dark, offbeat family comedy that outlines the damage that parents can do to their children when they don’t place them as a priority. Early ties are almost impossible to overcome, and damage done early is long-lasting. The characters are well-drawn; the madness of the parents outlined and then fleshed out. The reader can’t help but cheer on Buster and Annie as they attempt to break free and find happiness in their own lives. This book is recommended for readers looking for a great read. The story is compelling and it is difficult to put down the story without determining what will happen to the characters. This is a debut novel and Kevin Wilson is a new literature superstar.(less)

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Nov 03, 2012 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Narrator: Therese Plummer

I love quirky novels, and this is definitely quirky. But despite some of the reviews & marketing that I've seen, it's not a comedy. Not to say it doesn't have it's comedic moments, but overall the narrative is not a happy one.

The Family Fang is the story of a family that is so dysfunctional that Caleb & Camille (not "Mom & Dad or some such) refer to their kids as Child A and Child B rather than Annie & Buster. Caleb & Camille are so wrapped up in thei...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Julia Putnam rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but I'm also not totally wild about it. I'm really not sure what to even think about it. From the beginning I had no love for the parents. I think they are completely selfish and self involved with no thought for anyone but themselves. You can say it's in the name of art all you want, but there comes a point when you have to consider the people around you - especially when those people are your children. Caleb's attitude toward his children repulses me. They are nothing more t...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Annie and Buster Fang aka "Child A" and "Child B" spent their childhood as living props for their parents' — the infamous Caleb and Camille Fang's —performance art pieces. As a result, they're living out the effects of this early emotional damage in their adult lives, floundering around in both their careers and their personal lives.
When scandal rocks Annie's burgeoning career as an actress and when Buster's failures as a writer come to a head, the siblings are forced back to their parents' orbi...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Maxine McLister rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I saw the cover of The Family Fang, I expected a quirky book about a quirky, happy family sort of like, say, the Addams Family of '60s TV fame. Well, the book has all kinds of quirky but happy families...not even close.

Caleb and Camille Fang are conceptual artists. Their children, Annie and Buster, whom they refer to as Child A and Child B,serve merely as props in their series of strange performance pieces. To the parents, their art transcends anything else in the family; it is 'Important'....more

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Sep 22, 2012 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one was a lovely surprise! I usually have low expectations for modern novels about dysfunctional families, but this description of the childhood and troubled adulthood of 2 children of performance artists was delightfully funny while registering a clear eyed view of the damage done to children when parents are dedicated to their supposed "higher calling." Kevin Wilson does a lovely job examining the gray area between artistic dedication and individual selfishness by alternating between the...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Damian Trasler rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are some books that I pick up because I think Mrs Dim will enjoy them. This was one of those. I actually had no intention of reading it myself, but Mrs Dim enjoyed it and thought I would like it, and she was right.

The story concerns a family of four, a man and wife with a boy and a girl. The children are reluctant participants in their parents' performance art - moments of chaos and disruption in public places that the Fangs record on film.

Once the children are grown enough to escape, the...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was a little painful and made me wince quite a few times - but in a good way. The Family Fang felt like a documentary, like it was true in its wild fantasticalness. It reminded me of The Glass Castle a little bit - like if The Glass Castle were a little more whimsical, a lot more satirical and performance arty.
I was embarrassed for the parents in the Family Fang and for the parts of the Art World that take themselves that seriously. It was a good cautionary tale. If they had an Art and Ethic...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Andrea Mullarkey rated it 5 of 5 stars

It’s often complicated between parents and children and most of us know people whose adult lives are profoundly affected by their childhood relationships with their parents. In Family Fang Wilson works this theme to great results. Annie and Buster are the grown children of performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang. In their childhood they were co-opted into the troupe as Child A and Child B and they found themselves acting out extreme scenarios often drawing attention to themselves, enraging th...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very intriguing! This book fascinated and frightened me. Like the performance artist characters in the book, Wilson's tale of family dysfunction pushed me out of my comfort zone. While Wilson's characters and the circumstance of their family dysfunction seem extreme and unusual, I found it was all a glamorous wrapping for real-life family troubles and tensions. Wilson, very insightfully, understands that the relationship ideas he explores in "The Family Fang" (parental neglect, emotional invalid...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Jenny Brown rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a strange, wonderful story, about the Fang family, a family of performance artists. The art we usually think of as are is "dead" and the Fang family is about creating art as experience. Camille and Caleb didn't intend to have children (as Caleb's mentor always said, "Kids kill art"), but once they did, they brought their kids, Annie and Buster, into their art, creating bizarre and horrifying scenes.

The story is told in alternating chapters--pieces of performance art from the Fang Family pa...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up after seeing it included on several lists for the top books of 2011. And of course I can never resist dysfunctional family literature (despite the fact that my family is rather functional and as far as I know, I haven't done any major emotional damage to my 5 month old son yet). Reading this novel, I couldn't help but think of movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and Little Miss Sunshine -- with quirky families that you love despite their oddities and shortcomings. Apparently the mo...more

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About Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson was born, raised, and still lives in Tennessee. His writing has appeared in Ploughshares, One Story, Greensboro Review, The Oxford American, Carolina Quarterly and elsewhere. His work has twice been included in the New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best anthology (2005, 2006). He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the KHN Center for the Arts. A graduat...more

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Quotes from The Family Fang

“Even awful people can be polite for a few minutes,” their father told them. “Any longer than that and they revert to the bastards they really are.” — 15 people liked it

“What you'll find, I think, is that the things you most want to avoid are the things that make you feel the greatest when you actually do them.” — 10 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: The Family Fang Goodreads rating: 3.64 (10263 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10149142-the-family-fang?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309900906l/10149142.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10149142-the-family-fang?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson[/url]

The Family Fang

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