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 overwhelming sadness and bitterness of these characters, not to mention the way (spoiler alert!!!!) Charles and Camille choose their art over their children, was a real turn-off to me (and speaking of ends, this one comes as a bit of a stretch).

Overall, a good read but not one that kept me at night. Will be interesting to see how this does as a film adaptation...was just announced last week Nicole Kidman's production company has bought the rights. I don't see her as either Camille or Annie, so I'm already dissuaded from wanting to see it (but, if it does get filmed, the comparisons to Royal Tenebaums will be in full effect).