A Good Family

De: Erik Fassnacht

Narrado por: Richard Powers

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.

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

Move Over, Jonathan Franzen

This novel interrupted my life for 3 days and it just blew me away. I thought it was an even better modern family saga than The Corrections and I liked The Corrections a lot. Paul Michael Garcia was a great narrator.

Violent and all dislikable characters

Had I known it was this violent with graphic war details, I wouldn't not have ordered it. None of the characters have a shred of compassion. I know flawed characters make good novels, but there is nothing likable about any of them. Couldn't finish the book.