In The Family Fang (Ecco, Aug.), Kevin Wilson presents a slyly hilarious novel that's part social satire, part detective story, and part just plain good storytelling. Wilson's debut novels tells of two performance artists, Caleb and Camille Fang, who marry, have kids, and involve their children in their boundary-pushing art. Now adults, Annie and Buster Fang have difficulties; the disappearance of their parents is just one of them. Annie is an actress whose drinking has led to some public meltdowns; Buster is a struggling writer with money problems and an injury stemming from a reporting assignment. After their parents disappear, the kids return to their childhood home and try to make sense of their lives, and to figure out whether their parents' disappearance is an extreme performance piece or something more sinister. More engaging than A Visit from the Goon Squad, this family saga manages to be both hip and sweet at the same time.
Galley Talk: Week of 7/25/11
Jul 22, 2011
A version of this article appeared in the 07/25/2011 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Galley Talk: Week of 7/25/11