Book Review: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Title: The Family Fang
Author: Kevin Wilson
Enjoyment Rating: 6/10
Referral: This kept popping up in "recommended for you" in Amazon and Audible
Source: Audible for iPhone
Books I've read this year: 159

I know that every child feels that their parents messed up in some way or another. My daughter, sitting at the piano right this minute, just cursed me for making her practice. My son has been in tears working with his dad on a Christmas break science project (now who thought that was a good idea?) due at school tomorrow. But Caleb and Camille Fang messed up their kids more than most, and The Family Fang is basically the book of their therapy, of coming to terms with their childhood and deciding how it will or won't affect the rest of their lives.

Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists (because visual art is dead and boring, Caleb would say). They set up elaborate events in public places (sort of like Improv Everywhere, a group who famously cheered on a band for what they thought would be the best gig of their lives on a 2005 episode of This American Life). Anyway, Caleb and Camille feared that their art was dead when Camille unexpectedly got pregnant, but they soon learned that Child A and Child B (aka Annie and Buster) were actually their secret weapons. Their involvement in all of the art made Caleb and Camille famous and successful artists. However, Annie and Buster tired of their work, and after C&C set up a scenario in which the two would have to kiss in front of their whole school, Annie decided she'd had enough of her parents. She became an actress, and Buster became a writer, and the two floundered through their twenties. Then, going through rough times in their lives, they returned home, and soon after that, Caleb and Camille disappeared.

The book includes a forward-moving narrative (as Annie and Buster decide whether or not to try to find their parents and how to go about it) and a series of flashbacks highlighting the art they grew up participating in. I think the book is well written, and all of the weird extraneous little details come together well, but it was uncomfortable to listen to at times. Caleb and Camille were too cruel, too clueless and ultimately too heartless to be parents. So while I think the book may deserve a higher rating based on the writing skills, the story was too weird and sad to be enjoyable.