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Family Life
  
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Family Life (Hardcover)

by Russell Banks (Author) "TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING would be fruitless, timewasting, pretentious ..." (more)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

With this revised version of a 1975 novella, acclaimed novelist Banks (Continental Drift) lampoons the American family in a wonderfully funny range of literary styles. Family Life opens in the macho mode of the tall tale cum horse opera, replete with a patrilineal catalogue of brawling heroes who indulge in their boys-will-be-boys exploits. With marriage, a man gains the rank of royalty. King Egress the Hearty, embarrassed now about past escapades with his hippie buddy Loon, lives in an American hometown with his "right-on queen." But she cavorts with the wine steward. The princes Orgone, Dread and Egress Jr. get into teenage scrapes, hunting girls and cougar, taking hash and coke, drinking and dying. When the Queen, aka Naomi Ruth, writes her own novel, rendered here in a chapter titled "Remember Me to Camelot," she rephrases events in a tone of sentimental confessional relish. She tells about her cheerleader's crush on football captain Rex, their marriage, mobile home and three boys. But once Rex goes off to Vietnam, Naomi quickly gets liberated. How Rex and Naomi fare afterward emerges as a series of blase encounters in increasingly glitzy places. Exuberant and irreverent, Family Life bares a knife-edge of social satire.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


--Chicago Tribune

"Banks writes with trembling knowledge, conviction, and authenticity." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING would be fruitless, timewasting, pretentious. Read the first page
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3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of his best, but fun nevertheless..., April 11 2000
By Jason Burger (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Family Life (Paperback)
Challenging, experimental, satirical, fun. These are probably the best adjectives to describe Mr. Banks' first book. I definitley feel that this novel is not as well done as many of his other books, yet Family Life provides a unique and philosophical experiment in the writing and reading of novels not seen too often. The main problem I had with this book was "The Tradition of the Bloody Orange - A Paradigm." This was a page-long metaphor which was a little too vague for me to be sure of my translation. I believe it was discussing the pain of birth, life and the relief or release of death. If someone who understood this could please explain their interpretation, it would be greatly appreciated.
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1.0 out of 5 stars I don't get it, Jun 22 1998
By Mister T's Mom (St. Charles, MO USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Family Life (Paperback)
I read this book and I can't figure out what Banks was trying to say. I was thoughouly confused for days wondering what was going on. I would love for someone to tell me what it was that I read, becasue I certainly don't know.
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