Jan 25

Written by: Kathleen Klocko
1/25/2012 1:01 PM 

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson should be re-titled The Family Ho-Hum. How can a book with such a promising premise (dysfunctionality within a family of wacky performance artists) be so incredibly boring and 2 dimensional? I couldn't even finish it - 3/4s of the way in I skipped to the back to find out what happens. It was still anticlimactic!

The Fang Family use their children to create live performance art pieces - basically duping the general public in places like malls then creating art installations of the events. The book flip flops between past performance pieces when their children were young (Child A & Child B) and the present messed up lives of the grown children. One a failed, penniless writer and the other a somewhat indy actress spinning out of control after some bad decisions. They both end up back at home, their parents soon disappear (am not giving anything away) and are believed by the authorities to be a serial killers victims. The children believe this to be a climactic performance art piece. I really did try and stick with it to find out what happened but it was just so slow going I couldn't take it. Much better book about wacky parents exploiting their children is "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn. Rich narrative, interesting characters.  Wish I could say the same about The Family Fang.
    --India