On the HahaFiction shelf
The Family Fang
For Annie and Buster Fang, going home means risking another role in their parents’ art. Caleb and Camille made their children part of their public performances throughout childhood. When adult setbacks bring the siblings back, their parents have a new piece in mind.
From the publisher’s blurb
“the relationship between parents and their children”Read the full description at Picador / Pan Macmillan
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What makes it funny?
Buster enters a beauty pageant as part of an effort to sabotage it, then discovers he wants the crown. Book-group readers point to the family’s performances when describing what made them laugh; one found the novel funnier than its film adaptation.
The comedy at work
Caleb and Camille can plan a public disruption, but they can’t dictate what their children feel while carrying it out. Buster’s wish to win complicates the pageant stunt: the intended saboteur has his own stake in the competition.
Try this if…
Family comedy takes an uncomfortable turn here for readers interested in parents who claim their children’s lives as artistic material. Readers in book-group discussions also pair the novel with Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here.
Good to know
The performances have emotional costs. Beneath the family’s public antics is a struggle over control: Annie and Buster need room to make choices their parents haven’t assigned them.
A few distinguishing details
- Performance-artist parents keep casting their children in the act.
More funny family comedy
Sources & further reading
- Publisher
Publisher
- Publishers Weekly review
Review
- Reader discussion
Reader discussion
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