From what I can tell, this novel was not intended as some larger metaphor for dysfunctional families; but for how specifically dysfunctional they are, this particular (fictional) family could be many---could be your very own! (...Though for your sake, I hope that it isn’t.) “The Family Fang” is as compelling as the characters are destructive, as tender as they are shocking. Somehow the absurdity of their behavior only heightens the humanity of this cast of characters are destructive, as tender as they are shocking. Somehow the absurdity of their behavior only heightens the humanity of this cast of oddballs, and so the result is something refreshingly different from anything that I have read in awhile and nowhere near as goofy as the description may sound

Recommended by Sarah