A Good Family

A dramatic, ambitious first novel of a Midwestern family's self-destruction and repair Meet the Brunsons of Downers Grove, Illinois: Henry, the once-magical father, whose fear of aging and endangered career lead him to the nightclubs of Chicago's Viagra Triangle; his wife Julie, who struggles to reclaim her life with a bottle of Zoloft and dreams of her youthful independence; Charlie, the golden-boy son, who leaves the lucrative job his father arranged to serve in Afghanistan--and returns angry, damaged, and uncertain of his place in the world; and Barkley, the bumbling youngest, an aspiring writer of geeky science fiction stories who is interviewing for his first job at a forbidding Catholic high school. When Henry's health abruptly declines, he tries to return to the home and the life he had dominated. But his family--once totally dependent on his love, physical strength, and income--no longer needs him. As Julie, Charlie, and Barkley begin to find their ways forward, Henry tries desperately to bring them back together. In the end, each one will arrive at a new understanding of what family can--and cannot--be. Unusually assured and perceptive, combining narrative drive with humor, insight, and powerful family dynamics, A Good Family is a memorable debut.

About the Author :
Erik Fassnacht was born and raised in Chicago. He attended college at the University of Iowa before becoming a high school English and creative writing teacher. Spurred by a lifelong desire to write, he left teaching to get his MFA at Columbia College, where he wrote his debut novel, A Good Family. Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Review :
"A Good Family is a crowd-pleasing, affecting, and compassionately written novel filled with a memorable cast of characters that readers will cheer for and cry with." -- "Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs" "A Good Family is an intense, compassionate, and very funny book. This is a sharply observed, deeply satisfying novel: a joy, a discovery." -- "Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author of The Time Traveler's Wife" "Fassnacht's debut works as a read-alike for both Jennifer Weiner and Jonathan Franzen for the way it so convincingly melds domestic drama, suburban angst, and beautifully descriptive writing." -- "Booklist" "I fell hard for the Brunson family from page one, especially Barkley, who is so hard on himself and so helplessly honest. As for the story, it is funny and sad and endearing. A good writer like Fassnacht gives me everything I need: inspiration, joy, and the utmost confidence in the future of the novel." -- "Judith Guest, author of Ordinary People" "The intricate, complex machinations of a bruised family unit are at the center of Fassnacht's busy, well-executed debut novel...The author keeps the gears turning as all four characters contribute their separate strifes and their own means of resolution. Fassnacht has created a relatable quartet of interconnected characters in this engrossing and lucid work." -- "Publishers Weekly"