Finding Woodstock

Harry Lascome, his wife, Beth, and their two children are just settling into their new home in an unnamed community at the outset of Tillman's (Dinner for Eight) breezy send-up of the charms of suburbia. Harry, an investment counselor with only one client, has no trouble adapting, as he grew up in a suburb himself. He is not surprised when one house on his new cul-de-sac overflows with the members of a trashy family, that fruitcake-bearing Baptists will form the welcoming committee, and that his wife will immediately want a minivan. His city-bred family, however, is not assimilating well. Beth doesn't understand that it's a punishable neighborhood offense to put the garbage out too early and the kids have problems fitting in at school. Initially, this narrative is awkwardly written, suffering from a bad case of the cutes and plodding prose. But the story perks up considerably when Harry loses his job and Beth leaves the family to embark on a lesbian affair and road trip with new girlfriend, Eve. Shaken and confused, Harry finds himself named in the will of his lone client, who has left him $8 million provided that he move to her farm and care for her cat. Once at the farm Harry hooks up with some throwbacks to the '60s and, before long, he begins to realize that there's more to life than cold hard cash. Though Tillman's attempts at humor are uneven, this is sweet, light fare with a refreshingly buoyant attitude toward the unusual life changes of an ordinary American family. (June)