The Family Fang
2011 • 320 pages
Ratings15
Average rating4
15
Ratings15
Average rating4
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
For the first half of the book, it's a fun and occasionally funny story about an odd and dysfunctional family (who happen to be performance artists). In the second half, however, the tone shifts. The book becomes a rumination on the effects that parents can have on their children, and the events that seemed merely fun are viewed in a new light.
I didn't love everything about it. It has moments that connect emotionally, but a lot of it ended up feeling detached. I think it's worth reading, it's a strange and interesting story.
This book is a romp, and also a meditation on what art is. An object hanging in a gallery? Or is it the act of creating? Or is it the reaction of the observer? All of the above, I think. I'm wondering if we'll see Annie and Buster Fang again–I don't think Kevin Wilson is done with them!
