The Cephalopod Coffeehouse - The Family Fang

Welcome to another edition of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse. The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us:

This month I'm here to tell you about The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson.

Per Amazon: The Family Fang tells the story of the Fang family (parents Caleb and Camille, children Annie and Buster, aka Child A and Child B)  who make 'art.' For example, in one piece, "The Portrait of a Lady, 1988," fragile nine-year-old Buster Fang dons a wig and sequined gown to undermine the Little Miss Crimson Clover beauty pageant, though he secretly desires the crown himself. In "A Modest Proposal, July 1988," Buster and his older sister, Annie, watch their father, Caleb, propose to mother, Camille, over an airliner's intercom and get turned down (" plane crash would have been welcomed to avoid the embarrassment of what had happened"). Over the years, more projects consume Child A and Child B—what art lovers (and their parents) call the children—but it is not until the parents disappear from an interstate rest stop that the lines separating art and life dissolve.

My thoughts: I liked this story, but didn't love it. I was invested in the characters, who were all superbly drawn, and the mystery of Caleb and Camille's disappearance, but I wanted a slightly different ending. I won't say what ending I wanted because that would spoil things and another reader might well feel quite differently. I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the movie The Royal Tenenbaums.

In other news, I am going to have to work hard to finish another book before the end of the month - per my new years resolution. In my defense, I was sick for most of the month (hence my absence), and lost almost a week to vertigo, which made reading impossible. But, I think I can do it, so hopefully I'll have one more book to tell you about this month.

I haven't played much Skyrim lately but I have attained the rank of Archmage of Winterhold,

and acquired Inigo, a companion. He's pretty funny and good in fight. I also have a horse to carry my loot,

and, oh yes, finally got the Gauldur amulet, which boosts your health, magic, and stamina by thirty points.

So. What's new in your life? Are you staying healthy? Read any good books? Played any fun games?