Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Ecco (2011), Edition: Reprint, 325 pages
Description
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' madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents' strange world. When the lives they've built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance-- their magnum opus-- whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what's ultimately more important: their family or their art. The novel displays a keen sense of the complex performances that unfold in the relationships of people who love one another.… (more)
Media reviews
Somewhere between those happy families that Tolstoy felt were all alike and the unhappy families he claimed were unhappy in their own ways lie the quirky families we all love....With their eccentric relatives always up to crazy shenanigans, this vast fictional genealogy reflects our conflicted
Show More
embarrassment and affection for the people who raised us....It’s a delightfully odd story about the adult children of a pair of avant-garde performance artists. Since leaving home, Annie and Buster Fang have done everything they can to avoid their parents’ outlandish behavior, but self-destructive wackiness seems to run in their genes. ..the poignant truth Wilson captures beneath the humor of this peculiar family: Our crazy parents’ offenses sometimes loom so large that we don’t realize just what they did for us until it’s too late. Here, in the pages of this droll novel, is a chance to come home and make up. Show Less
But Mr. Wilson, though he writes wittily about various outré Fang performance pieces, resists putting too much emphasis on the family gimmick. These events have names (the kids’-singing-angers-heckler bit is loftily called “The Sound and the Fury”) and dates and artistic goals. But they also
Show More
have consequences. That’s what makes this novel so much more than a joke.
Mr. Wilson explores the damage inflicted on children raised in an atmosphere that is intentionally confusing. ...Although Mr. Wilson sometimes hints too neatly at where his book is headed, he manages to make the final stages genuinely shocking. This last part of “The Family Fang” packs a wallop because the rest of the book has been so quirky and seemingly light. But the stakes in the Fang war of wills get higher as the book proceeds, and they move from the specific to the universal. Show Less
A Delightful Portrait Of The Screwball 'Family Fang...That's why it's such a minty fresh delight to open up Kevin Wilson's debut novel, The Family Fang, and feel the revitalizing blast of original thought, robust invention, screwball giddiness....a family story that's out-of-the-box, and funny,
Show More
and, also, genuinely moving. Wilson's inventive genius never stops for a rest break. ..Wilson might as well have been writing a review for his own strange and wonderful novel, for The Family Fang indeed reads as a work of "choreographed spontaneity" that will linger in your mind long after the mall has closed and the mess in the restaurant has been cleaned up. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member msf59
“Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art. Their children called it mischief.”
Meet the Fang family! Caleb and Camille and their children, Annie and Buster, known simply as Child A and Child B. The parents are performance artists, spending their lives, creating art out of bizarre everyday situations. The
This is a fresh and funny novel, but does contain a healthy share of dark and unsettling moments. It will not be for every reader, there is child abuse, but if you lock in, there is much pleasure to be had.
“Your in a weird place right now?’ Buster said, his voice rising. ‘Right now, right this very minute, I’m sitting on my childhood bed, drinking Percocet-laced orange soda out of a straw that I’m holding in the gap where my tooth used to be, before it was shattered by a potato. Mom and Dad are in the living room listening to La Monte Young’s Black Record at a ridiculously loud volume. They’re wearing Lone Ranger masks, which seems to be a recurring thing for them.”
Meet the Fang family! Caleb and Camille and their children, Annie and Buster, known simply as Child A and Child B. The parents are performance artists, spending their lives, creating art out of bizarre everyday situations. The
Show More
kids play along, mostly because they have no choice, setting them on a disturbing road to adulthood, mined with many psychological pitfalls.This is a fresh and funny novel, but does contain a healthy share of dark and unsettling moments. It will not be for every reader, there is child abuse, but if you lock in, there is much pleasure to be had.
“Your in a weird place right now?’ Buster said, his voice rising. ‘Right now, right this very minute, I’m sitting on my childhood bed, drinking Percocet-laced orange soda out of a straw that I’m holding in the gap where my tooth used to be, before it was shattered by a potato. Mom and Dad are in the living room listening to La Monte Young’s Black Record at a ridiculously loud volume. They’re wearing Lone Ranger masks, which seems to be a recurring thing for them.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member BoundTogetherForGood
I read this book because i LOVE Wilson's Nothing to See Here.
This book just didn't grab me. It tried, a little bit, it just never really did anything more than that.
This book just didn't grab me. It tried, a little bit, it just never really did anything more than that.
LibraryThing member stephkaye
My first exposure to Kevin Wilson was The Family Fang, which tells of a very strange family, indeed. Mom and dad are performance artists, and their kids are the stars of the show. Their “pieces” usually include putting the kids into really awkward, sometimes dangerous, situations and seeing how
Annie (known in her parents’ work as “Child A”) uses her childhood training to become a successful actress. Buster (“Child B”) turns his weird childhood into writing. When both adult children encounter a low point in their careers, they return home – and soon after, mom and dad go missing.
Are they really dead, as the police believe? Or is this just another one of their stunts? Annie and Buster partner up to find out. I basically read this whole book with wide eyes and dropped jaw, waiting to see what would happen next. I doubt you’ll see the final resolution coming, so you'll just have to wait for it.
Show More
unwitting bystanders react. As you can imagine, these kids grow up with a lot of baggage. Annie (known in her parents’ work as “Child A”) uses her childhood training to become a successful actress. Buster (“Child B”) turns his weird childhood into writing. When both adult children encounter a low point in their careers, they return home – and soon after, mom and dad go missing.
Are they really dead, as the police believe? Or is this just another one of their stunts? Annie and Buster partner up to find out. I basically read this whole book with wide eyes and dropped jaw, waiting to see what would happen next. I doubt you’ll see the final resolution coming, so you'll just have to wait for it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amobogio
This book strongly reminded me of "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn. In that novel the parents deliberately induced mutations in their children to make them side show freaks. Caleb and Camille Fang are no better as parents. I found "The Family Fang" amusing, but the horror and the magnitude and the
Show More
scope of the fucking-up that is administered to Annie and Buster is chilling. I just couldn't believe that if you got out of that childhood alive and functional that you would EVER go back. Show Less
LibraryThing member ozzieslim
This book started out with a lot of promise to be absolutely hilarious. The premise of two parents who are performance artists who incorporate their children into their chaotic public performances had the capacity to be a great tale.
It began to dissipate very quickly as their children, now grown,
Halfway through the story, the parents disappear and the children are forced to decide if this is a piece of performance art or if the disappearance is genuine. Through a series of events of their own doing and some unplanned, they learn that their parents mentor originally told the Fang parents that "kids kill art" in an effort to discourage them from having kids.
His conclusion in the end is that the type of art that the Fangs perform, kills kids. Both of the Fang children have been socially and emotionally damaged through the years. I remained hopeful to the end, only to find the Fang parents telling the children that they had no intention of staying in touch with them and that their disappearance was yet another piece of performance art.
For anyone who has lived through a chaotic childhood, this book will bring up either great memories or bad feelings depending on where you are at with your own development. This is an ok book, not a great one.
It began to dissipate very quickly as their children, now grown,
Show More
were an alcoholic actress and a marginally successful but socially awkward writer who were both forced to return home to stay with their parents. Halfway through the story, the parents disappear and the children are forced to decide if this is a piece of performance art or if the disappearance is genuine. Through a series of events of their own doing and some unplanned, they learn that their parents mentor originally told the Fang parents that "kids kill art" in an effort to discourage them from having kids.
His conclusion in the end is that the type of art that the Fangs perform, kills kids. Both of the Fang children have been socially and emotionally damaged through the years. I remained hopeful to the end, only to find the Fang parents telling the children that they had no intention of staying in touch with them and that their disappearance was yet another piece of performance art.
For anyone who has lived through a chaotic childhood, this book will bring up either great memories or bad feelings depending on where you are at with your own development. This is an ok book, not a great one.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Rdra1962
The reviews of this book left me with the impression that I would find it a) predictable and b) annoying. It was anything but! The story is a bit bizarre but deep down it is the story of overcoming the mistakes that parents can inflict on their children, and of children (now grown) having to
Show More
finally take control and responsibility for their lives. The family members are the very definition of quirky, but they are lovable and funny. The two siblings have an intense bond, typical of children who cannot rely on their parents. This book is very different from any other I have read, the author did a great job! Show Less
LibraryThing member knitwit2
Performace artisits Caleb and camille value thier art more than thier kids. They eventualy disappear leaving two people ill-equiped for adulthood to cope with the afatermath. Supposedly very funny - didn't see that.
LibraryThing member bookfest
This is a rather bizarre book. The basic premise is that Caleb and Camille are 1970s performance artists who think it is true art to create disruptive events in public places, such as malls. They enlist their children, Annie and Buster, who are always referred to as child A and B in their scripts.
Show More
Now adults, the children are trying to pull free of their manipulative parents. Of course, they both become artists - an actress and writer. They are both very fucked up. All this makes for some sharp humor at times, but the final "performance" drags on too long. Show Less
LibraryThing member ijustgetbored
Annie (Child A) and Buster (Child B) have learned that you can go home again, after their lives fall apart in fairly spectacular ways (hints: the paparazzi can be vicious, and potato guns and alcohol don't mix), but don't expect your parents to be "normal" about it, if your parents are famed
This novel is not "arty." It does ask questions about what art is and what the nature of the artist is, but it doesn't drag its feet around in metaphysical contemplation of aesthetic questions. The musings about art are instead integrated into a framework of questions about what it is to be a family and to develop meaningful relationships with other people. The answers to these questions can be laugh-out-loud funny, and they can be deeply moving: Wilson alternates the tones in which he examines these issues, keeping the reader on his or her feet and never knowing what to expect on the next page, hilarity or heartbreak. The mysterious Fang parents and the enigmatic puzzle they have created for their children keeps an element of suspense in what would otherwise be classified as a work of literary fiction.
Annie's and Buster's struggles to become more than just Child A and Child B are humerous to watch in the flashbacks to childhood and first desperate, then hopeful in adulthood. If this novel is a piece of art, the picture that emerges is one of hope.
Show More
performance artists Claude and Camille Fang. Throughout Annie and Buster's childhood, the Fang parents made them into integral parts of their performance art pieces (we see a number of these pieces in amusing flashbacks interspersed between chapters). As adults, much to their parents' disappointment, Annie and Buster have opted for more conventional forms of artistic expression, as an actress and writer, respectively, but the writing on the wall is not looking good as far as these pursuits are concerned. And it just may be that the parents Fang have their biggest performance yet in store when their children return home.This novel is not "arty." It does ask questions about what art is and what the nature of the artist is, but it doesn't drag its feet around in metaphysical contemplation of aesthetic questions. The musings about art are instead integrated into a framework of questions about what it is to be a family and to develop meaningful relationships with other people. The answers to these questions can be laugh-out-loud funny, and they can be deeply moving: Wilson alternates the tones in which he examines these issues, keeping the reader on his or her feet and never knowing what to expect on the next page, hilarity or heartbreak. The mysterious Fang parents and the enigmatic puzzle they have created for their children keeps an element of suspense in what would otherwise be classified as a work of literary fiction.
Annie's and Buster's struggles to become more than just Child A and Child B are humerous to watch in the flashbacks to childhood and first desperate, then hopeful in adulthood. If this novel is a piece of art, the picture that emerges is one of hope.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bluepigeon
I am temporarily stranded in Nashville, TN. Well, there aren't many great things I can say about Nashville (good bbq, inconvenient if you don't have a car [I don't have a car], some nice people, some annoying people, NOT "Athens of the South," whatever that may mean, though there is that giant
Wilson writes well with an easy flow and good dialog. Perhaps what I like most about his writing is his ability to create characters that say and do different things, characters that seem real, separate entities, and not just different voices from one head. The fascination of the Fang parents with disaster and chaos makes for an entertaining and very interesting plot driver, though at times the subtlety is lost and Wilson seems to be repeating himself. This does not take away from the writing, however, since it is the main focus of the trauma of the Fang children, the one thing that they just have to move on from to be happier in life.
Perhaps the best thing about reading The Family Fang was that I read most of it in the mall. I have not been to a mall in over 14 years, I think, but once you find yourself stranded in Nashville without a car and within a 2-minute bus ride from the mall, where there is a movie theater (though no bookstore!), well, you end up spending some time in the weird, perfumed labyrinth of stores. And oh, how much I wished that the Fang family would create some sort of chaos in the middle of this very disturbingly-mundane and posh mall. How I wished for a woman to steal jelly beans from the candy store and for thousands of little beans to bounce on the cool, marble mall floor... How I wished for a spot to bring my very own free chicken sandwich coupon...
So, Caleb and Camille, wherever you are, please, please come back to TN, and consider visiting the Green Hills mall one of these days!
Show More
replica in the park of the Parthenon, bus stops too close to the shoulder-less roads, bus drivers who will drive on by even though you are standing at the bus stop, practically risking your life, weird summer weather and tonados, some good music, a lot of bad music...) But there are some things that help me survive here. One of them is certainly Parnassus, Ann Patchett (and her business partner)'s bookstore, the ONLY indie bookstore here. So it was at Parnassus that I picked up Wilson's short story collection. I really enjoyed that book, so in my next visit to the bookstore, I picked up The Family Fang.Wilson writes well with an easy flow and good dialog. Perhaps what I like most about his writing is his ability to create characters that say and do different things, characters that seem real, separate entities, and not just different voices from one head. The fascination of the Fang parents with disaster and chaos makes for an entertaining and very interesting plot driver, though at times the subtlety is lost and Wilson seems to be repeating himself. This does not take away from the writing, however, since it is the main focus of the trauma of the Fang children, the one thing that they just have to move on from to be happier in life.
Perhaps the best thing about reading The Family Fang was that I read most of it in the mall. I have not been to a mall in over 14 years, I think, but once you find yourself stranded in Nashville without a car and within a 2-minute bus ride from the mall, where there is a movie theater (though no bookstore!), well, you end up spending some time in the weird, perfumed labyrinth of stores. And oh, how much I wished that the Fang family would create some sort of chaos in the middle of this very disturbingly-mundane and posh mall. How I wished for a woman to steal jelly beans from the candy store and for thousands of little beans to bounce on the cool, marble mall floor... How I wished for a spot to bring my very own free chicken sandwich coupon...
So, Caleb and Camille, wherever you are, please, please come back to TN, and consider visiting the Green Hills mall one of these days!
Show Less
LibraryThing member zenhead
i found the family fang to be a riveting, eventually deeply insightful probing of the dynamics of the family. to paraphrase (i can't put my finger on the actual passage), people have children, and orchestrate various threatening situations to set them loose in, expecting them to figure out what is
Show More
going on, how to react to it, and how to extricate themselves from it. camille and caleb fang, who use their children (usually refered to as "A and B", are self-styled conceptual artists who create these situations and thrust their children into them as "art," filming the chaos that results from the "pieces" they construct. as the children grow up, they begin to rebel at their parentally imposed role as extras, and we watch as the children and the parents are forced to redefine their lives as separate from each other. there is heartrending tragedy in how camille and caleb have damaged their children, and a sense of heroics in buster and annie's struggle to find out who they are, and how to proceed with life without their parent's orchestration of their lives. the book left me considering, as a parent, in what ways have i manipulated and maybe even used my own children to further my ambition. and i look back at my childhood wondering the same thing of my parents. i was moved and troubled by wilson's take on parenting. this is a dark take, though with enough of a surrealist touch to allow the reader to keep it at arms length, and a few bits of spot-on humor to take the edge off. i will be thinking about the family fang for a long time. Show Less
LibraryThing member snat
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
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 time-out from the real world and are immediately drawn back into the weirdness created by their parents. They immediately 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 art on their own terms (in her case, acting, and, in his case, writing), but find that, after years of controlling and shaping 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).
Show More
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 time-out from the real world and are immediately drawn back into the weirdness created by their parents. They immediately 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 art on their own terms (in her case, acting, and, in his case, writing), but find that, after years of controlling and shaping 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).
Show Less
LibraryThing member PeskyLibrary
Can being a family be a performance piece? In The Family Fang we see the humor and the pit falls in being raised in an overly artistic house hold. Anne and Buster were actors in their parent’s performance pieces since childhood. They grew up making scenes in malls and compelling mobs to watch the
Show More
seemingly spontaneous shenanigans of the Fang family. But when you’re whole life is a performance how do you distinguish fact from Fang fiction? This book was wonderfully written and a delightful new take on dysfunctional families. However, while The Family Fang is a funny novel, I found it somewhat bittersweet because Anne and Buster were always wondering if family was just an act. ~ED Show Less
LibraryThing member alexrichman
A whimsical and (sometimes) affecting family drama with plenty of funny moments, most of which involve the Fangs' so-called 'events' - artistic flashmob-style stunts that are too good to give away here. The first half builds and builds brilliantly, but sadly the story ends rather flatly.
Show More
Nevertheless, it's eminently recommendable as a more light-hearted companion to the likes of Freedom. Show Less
LibraryThing member Florinda
There are oddball, dysfunctional families, and then there are the Fangs. Their oddness is a conscious choice on the part of parents Caleb and Camille, and on those grounds, they’d probably dispute the “dysfunctional” label. The Fangs are artists, and their life is their art; and on those
The Fangs’ art involves orchestrating unexpected behaviors on an unsuspecting public--literally, creating scenes (or, put less charitably, pulling stunts)--and surreptitiously capturing the response on film. The artwork isn’t necessarily the event itself, but the reaction it creates; it’s a variant of performance art in which the artist isn’t the performer, but the director, and some of the performers are unaware that they even have roles. Annie and Buster, however, usually knew they were playing the part of the catalysts to the reaction...until they got old enough to refuse and left home. Perhaps not surprisingly, Annie becomes an actress, while Buster goes into writing; also not surprisingly, neither is terribly well-equipped for adulthood, and eventually they both end up returning to their parents’ home to recover from setbacks. It also may not be too surprising that their parents aren’t entirely prepared for that development.
While I’ve just said that certain elements in the storyline of The Family Fang are “not surprising (perhaps),” I don’t mean it in the sense that they’re predictable. Perhaps they are from an “understanding-human-nature” viewpoint, but overall, “predictable” is NOT an adjective I’d use to describe this novel. “Oddball”--an adjective I applied earlier to the Fangs themselves--fits pretty well, though.
The Fangs’ art is based on reaction, and my reaction to The Family Fang is mixed. Considering its Southern setting and art-world trappings, it has a lot of potential for quirk and wackiness, but it doesn’t take those factors nearly as far as it could; I appreciate that, to be honest, and think it makes for a stronger novel. Some of that strength comes from the themes it explores and the questions it raises about art and living authentically and what families owe one another; there’s some great book-club discussion fodder here. On the other hand, the premise of the novel has some off-putting elements, and the characters aren’t all that easy to like; those factors might make the book less appealing to groups.
I’m really not sure what I expected from The Family Fang--charming eccentricity, maybe? I don’t think it delivered that, really. Having said that, it did have an emotional depth I really didn’t expect, along with some skewed humor and uncommon perspective. It’s an oddball, and I didn’t love it, but I have a feeling I’ll remember it.
Show More
terms, they’re pretty pleased with how it functions. Their children, Annie and Buster--participants in their parents’ artworks as “Child A” and “Child B,” but now no longer either participants or children--might beg to differ.The Fangs’ art involves orchestrating unexpected behaviors on an unsuspecting public--literally, creating scenes (or, put less charitably, pulling stunts)--and surreptitiously capturing the response on film. The artwork isn’t necessarily the event itself, but the reaction it creates; it’s a variant of performance art in which the artist isn’t the performer, but the director, and some of the performers are unaware that they even have roles. Annie and Buster, however, usually knew they were playing the part of the catalysts to the reaction...until they got old enough to refuse and left home. Perhaps not surprisingly, Annie becomes an actress, while Buster goes into writing; also not surprisingly, neither is terribly well-equipped for adulthood, and eventually they both end up returning to their parents’ home to recover from setbacks. It also may not be too surprising that their parents aren’t entirely prepared for that development.
While I’ve just said that certain elements in the storyline of The Family Fang are “not surprising (perhaps),” I don’t mean it in the sense that they’re predictable. Perhaps they are from an “understanding-human-nature” viewpoint, but overall, “predictable” is NOT an adjective I’d use to describe this novel. “Oddball”--an adjective I applied earlier to the Fangs themselves--fits pretty well, though.
The Fangs’ art is based on reaction, and my reaction to The Family Fang is mixed. Considering its Southern setting and art-world trappings, it has a lot of potential for quirk and wackiness, but it doesn’t take those factors nearly as far as it could; I appreciate that, to be honest, and think it makes for a stronger novel. Some of that strength comes from the themes it explores and the questions it raises about art and living authentically and what families owe one another; there’s some great book-club discussion fodder here. On the other hand, the premise of the novel has some off-putting elements, and the characters aren’t all that easy to like; those factors might make the book less appealing to groups.
I’m really not sure what I expected from The Family Fang--charming eccentricity, maybe? I don’t think it delivered that, really. Having said that, it did have an emotional depth I really didn’t expect, along with some skewed humor and uncommon perspective. It’s an oddball, and I didn’t love it, but I have a feeling I’ll remember it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Gnorma
I didn't find this one clever, intelligent, or whimsical. I was thinking, while reading it, that when my kids were young, they would write outrageous stories filled with ridiculous exploits. It was funny when the kids did it, but not when an adult does. The 'performance art' stunts by the family
Show More
just sound stupid and obnoxious. They are there for shock value rather than to make people think. These are interspersed with experiences of the grown Fang children, all of which I find offensive. I gave up on this book after about 5 chapters, so maybe I am not giving it a fair shot, but really, I just can't waste any more time on it. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Show Less
LibraryThing member wrighton-time
Article first published as Book Review: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson on Blogcritics.
Can a family survive their own peculiarities, those that can affect the outcome of their lives forever? In The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, we follow the lives of a family trough a strange and bizarre set of
When Camille finds herself pregnant, at first they are concerned, can true art exist with a child present. Caleb and Camille set out to prove that it can, and once their second child comes along they have incorporated both children into the fold somehow convincing others that what they do is the real thing. Annie and Buster are raised to be involved in this strangely mischievous form of discipline. The more reaction the better, as each strange and unlikely occurrence is photographed or taped for posterity. Many of the stunts are wild but would attract crowds like locust. They are often arrested for the disturbances they cause.
As Annie and Buster grew they found themselves ready to break away. This is exactly what they did. Buster began with writing, and Annie became an actress. Yet their lives are not easy. Annie has done well but is not sure of her abilities. Buster has moved on, and done some news stories, and when he is chosen to do a story on a group in Idaho that has developed a potato gun, he is interested. He finds himself with an interesting group, willing to pull out the stops to show off their hardware. After several practice sessions on each other, they finally convince Buster to hold the target on his head. Finally agreeing he is amazed at how he feels when the stunt works. Making himself available for one last time, the blast is the last thing he remembers before waking up in the hospital.
It is this accident that brings both he and Annie back into the family fold. Things are still the same, but now the actions and art seem a bit lamer. Their parents do not seem to have the same panache. When Camille and Caleb disappear without warning, both Annie and Buster believe they are up to their old tricks, just another form of art. They will show up with the pictures to post in their gallery. But when the police contact Annie and let her know they have found their vehicle surrounded by blood, Annie and Buster begin to wonder. Can they truly be dead? Or is this one more of their crazy stunts, their unique and odd form of art? How will Annie know the truth of this odd twist of fortune?
Wilson has put together an interesting form of comedic tragedy. He has structured the life of his characters around art, with all parts of their lives a form of the canvas itself. The interplay was interesting and how the children developed based off the early years seemed to be a bit of tragedy. I understand the book to be a bit of comedy and yet I could not see the comedy, only the sadness of the situation.
I found the book a bit of a struggle to get through although it was written quite well. I found the premise a bit over the top and a little unbelievable, but I felt a certain pain for the children. It seemed as though they were never really children at all but parts of a chess set, made to move and destroy at will, and I found certain sadness in that.
If you find a bit of comedy and tragedy intertwined to create an intricate piece of art, you might enjoy this work. It was entertaining to a degree, but I found it to be strongly in a place of its own. The characters were certainly well written, and I found myself admiring those bits of themselves they were able to salvage from their childhood.
A book club would enjoy such a work, the intricacies of the tale would give them discussion and dissembling both for argument and agreement.
I received this Book as an ARC. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.
Can a family survive their own peculiarities, those that can affect the outcome of their lives forever? In The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, we follow the lives of a family trough a strange and bizarre set of
Show More
circumstances. The Fangs are known for their art, a strange and natural form, where anything and everything can be pulled in to develop an art form of their own choosing. Having met and fallen in love, Caleb and Camille dedicate their lives to finding their art in every action and response, catching the very act of reaction and playing it into the representation itself. When Camille finds herself pregnant, at first they are concerned, can true art exist with a child present. Caleb and Camille set out to prove that it can, and once their second child comes along they have incorporated both children into the fold somehow convincing others that what they do is the real thing. Annie and Buster are raised to be involved in this strangely mischievous form of discipline. The more reaction the better, as each strange and unlikely occurrence is photographed or taped for posterity. Many of the stunts are wild but would attract crowds like locust. They are often arrested for the disturbances they cause.
As Annie and Buster grew they found themselves ready to break away. This is exactly what they did. Buster began with writing, and Annie became an actress. Yet their lives are not easy. Annie has done well but is not sure of her abilities. Buster has moved on, and done some news stories, and when he is chosen to do a story on a group in Idaho that has developed a potato gun, he is interested. He finds himself with an interesting group, willing to pull out the stops to show off their hardware. After several practice sessions on each other, they finally convince Buster to hold the target on his head. Finally agreeing he is amazed at how he feels when the stunt works. Making himself available for one last time, the blast is the last thing he remembers before waking up in the hospital.
It is this accident that brings both he and Annie back into the family fold. Things are still the same, but now the actions and art seem a bit lamer. Their parents do not seem to have the same panache. When Camille and Caleb disappear without warning, both Annie and Buster believe they are up to their old tricks, just another form of art. They will show up with the pictures to post in their gallery. But when the police contact Annie and let her know they have found their vehicle surrounded by blood, Annie and Buster begin to wonder. Can they truly be dead? Or is this one more of their crazy stunts, their unique and odd form of art? How will Annie know the truth of this odd twist of fortune?
Wilson has put together an interesting form of comedic tragedy. He has structured the life of his characters around art, with all parts of their lives a form of the canvas itself. The interplay was interesting and how the children developed based off the early years seemed to be a bit of tragedy. I understand the book to be a bit of comedy and yet I could not see the comedy, only the sadness of the situation.
I found the book a bit of a struggle to get through although it was written quite well. I found the premise a bit over the top and a little unbelievable, but I felt a certain pain for the children. It seemed as though they were never really children at all but parts of a chess set, made to move and destroy at will, and I found certain sadness in that.
If you find a bit of comedy and tragedy intertwined to create an intricate piece of art, you might enjoy this work. It was entertaining to a degree, but I found it to be strongly in a place of its own. The characters were certainly well written, and I found myself admiring those bits of themselves they were able to salvage from their childhood.
A book club would enjoy such a work, the intricacies of the tale would give them discussion and dissembling both for argument and agreement.
I received this Book as an ARC. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rkepulis
This is the story of a very unusual family, to say the least. Well, okay, bizarre. Sad, hilarious, exciting, disturbing, and a thousand other adjectives must be used to explain what the reader will experience should he/she decide to partake in this book. And, in my opinion, everyone should read it.
Show More
I mean everyone. One's perception of what the world is and what the world is not will be turned upside down, shaken, torn apart, and, in some extreme cases, firmly confirmed due to the utter rejection of chaos and other unpredictable and unpalatable experiences. Although the ending left me a little baffled, I blame it solely on my own expectations, which is oddly enough somehow related to the story's theme. If this review confuses you or excites you or leaves you wondering about my own sanity, read this book, and then get back to me about how you feel upon finishing The Family Fang. Show Less
LibraryThing member Caitdub
Why are quirky families so damn interesting? I don't know. We'll see if I'm over this type of book or not....
Over it. I got board 100 pages in.
Over it. I got board 100 pages in.
LibraryThing member porch_reader
For Caleb and Camille Fang, art is not paintings nor sculptures nor theater. Instead, the Fang's art is deeply disturbing to those who see it, drawing the audience in to be a part of the scene. The Fang's children, Annie and Buster (known to the world as Child A and Child B), grow up as a part of
I loved this book. It's quirky plot paired with very real emotions worked for me. Wilson takes time to create multi-layered characters before introducing the turning point of the plot. As a result, Annie and Buster's reactions to a somewhat unlikely event felt very real. My one complaint was that the ending felt a bit abrupt, but despite that, I still found this to be a highly satisfying read.
Show More
these escapades. For example, Annie and Buster pretend to be untalented child musicians who are heckled by strangers (actually, their parents) to see how the crowd will react. In fact, that is one of the milder of the Fang's performances. Descriptions of these performances are interspersed with the actual story, which takes place after Annie and Buster have grown up and are leading (unsurprisingly) somewhat dysfunctional adult lives. But it is when Annie, an actress, and Buster, a writer, decide to go home to deals with their problems that the real problems begin. I loved this book. It's quirky plot paired with very real emotions worked for me. Wilson takes time to create multi-layered characters before introducing the turning point of the plot. As a result, Annie and Buster's reactions to a somewhat unlikely event felt very real. My one complaint was that the ending felt a bit abrupt, but despite that, I still found this to be a highly satisfying read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kalky
THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson is a different sort of novel in a completely wonderful way. It’s an examination of a family, but the Fangs are messed up in a way unlike any other family I’ve met in literature. The parents, Caleb and Camille, are performance artists. The Fangs create their art
This book isn’t for everyone, but if you like a bizarre story that has humor and heart, I strongly recommend you pick this one up.
Show More
by taking mundane settings and situations, and making them completely uncomfortable for unsuspecting onlookers. When the Fangs have children, it seems natural to bring them into the family business, and Annie and Buster (Child A and Child B) become part of every performance. As one would expect, such a nontraditional upbringing creates interesting adults who aren’t sure what constitutes normal behavior. As one of Buster’s girlfriends tells him after they’ve dated a year, “It’s like your family trained you to react to the world in a way that was so specific to their art that you don’t know how to interact with people in the real world. You act like every conversation is just a buildup to something awful.” The girlfriend is spot-on, and the novel follows Annie and Buster as they make disastrous decisions in their adult lives that prompt them to have to return home to Caleb and Camille. What follows is a fun and disturbing look at present-day Annie and Buster interspersed with flashbacks to some Fang family performances. The Fang children’s collapses along with the flashbacks are definitely the most entertaining parts of the novel, and although the plot drags a bit toward the end of the book, the writing still has enough little gems to keep the reader engaged and interested in how it all turns out.This book isn’t for everyone, but if you like a bizarre story that has humor and heart, I strongly recommend you pick this one up.
Show Less
LibraryThing member witchyrichy
This may be my favorite book in 2012 so far! It is a bit dark but the ironic tone keeps it from begin depressing. The story explores the always complicated relationship between parents and children by adding layers of complexity.
LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel
Really weird book about a family of performance artists...but it's really good.
LibraryThing member muddyboy
The author is trying too hard to have wacky and cute situations and characters and they become tiring by the end of the book. The Fang family parents set up all sorts of scenarios that result in mayhem of sorts and they film it and the are considered geniuses of "performance art" It was fun at the
Show More
beginning but by the middle I wondered why these people weren't in jail. Its easy to read and will be easy to forget. Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
My feelings about this book continue to evolve.
Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists, who use their children, Annie and Buster in their work. On the surface, this is an amusing story (especially the first third). But over time (both as the novel progresses and after having finished it), it
Kevin Wilson's light touch almost hides some of the profound questions raised by this book: the nature of art, parent-child relationships, and the lasting effects of childhood.
As Annie and Buster grow up, we can see that, while both are very talented artists in their own fields, they are challenged in forming healthy relationships other than with each other.
The writing and story istelf are good; the after-effects of this book are even better.
Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists, who use their children, Annie and Buster in their work. On the surface, this is an amusing story (especially the first third). But over time (both as the novel progresses and after having finished it), it
Show More
becomes darker. As we learn more about Caleb and Camille, their motivations become more self-serving, and their parenting methods can be seen as abusive.Kevin Wilson's light touch almost hides some of the profound questions raised by this book: the nature of art, parent-child relationships, and the lasting effects of childhood.
As Annie and Buster grow up, we can see that, while both are very talented artists in their own fields, they are challenged in forming healthy relationships other than with each other.
The writing and story istelf are good; the after-effects of this book are even better.
Show Less
Awards
Shirley Jackson Award (Winner — Collection — 2009)
Alex Award (2010)
Crook's Corner Book Prize (Longlist — 2014)
Language
Original publication date
2011-08-09