The New York Times Book Review - John Irving
Kevin Wilson…knows how to construct a story…Like Vonnegut, like Atwood, Wilson is up to serious business—like them, he's also very funny…[Perfect Little World is] a novel you keep reading for old-fashioned reasons—because it's a good story, and you need to know what happens. But you also keep reading because you want to know what a good family is. Everyone wants to know that.
From the Publisher
A good story, and even better storytelling.” — John Irving, The New York Times Book Review
“Wild. . . . [A] provocative read.” — People
“Charming. . . . Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone. . . . The novel delights in the project’s Willy Wonkaesque sense of antic chaos.” — Washington Post
“Delicious. . . . Wilson is such an inventive and witty writer. . . . [His] ‘perfect little world’ of a novel pretty much lives up to its title.” — NPR
“Persistently compassionate. . . . Wilson’s best moments are funny and earnest. . . . [His] crisp language and smart plotting make Perfect Little World immensely likable and absolutely enjoyable.” — GQ
“Quirky. . . . Wilson’s Perfect Little World finds its bliss in the vast disconnect between people’s best intentions and where they land.” — Entertainment Weekly
“The sheer energy of imagination in Wilson’s work makes other writers of realistic fiction look lazy. . . . The novel’s grand finale . . . reminds us that not everything unpredictable is painful or bad, and that conventional arrangements have no monopoly on the profound connections that make family.” — Newsday
“Family is far more than a biological bond; that’s not a groundbreaking idea. But Wilson has found a lovely new way of telling readers something they know by heart.” — Houston Chronicle
“The compensation is a greater richness in the characters, and a refreshingly un-ironic attitude toward love — Knoxville News-Sentinel
“Wilson does an incredible job of telling a compelling story while addressing important social issues. . . . Thought-provoking. — Deep South Magazine
“In light and lively prose that practically tap dances on the page, Wilson shrewdly probes the intricate tensions and machinations that lie at the core of this eccentric family unit. . . . A provocative and uplifting read.” — Bookpage
“Stellar. . . . Compelling. . . . Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.” — Booklist, Starred Review
“Bittersweet. . . . Wilson delves into the drama and tensions inherent in this strange aquarium. . . . A moving and sincere reflection on what it truly means to be a family — Kirkus, Starred Review
“Sweet and thoroughly satisfying. . . . Wilson grounds his premise in credible human motivations and behavior, resulting in a memorable cast of characters.” — Publishers Weekly
“[A] moving novel about love, parenting, and the families we create for ourselves.” — Library Journal
Houston Chronicle
Family is far more than a biological bond; that’s not a groundbreaking idea. But Wilson has found a lovely new way of telling readers something they know by heart.”
AudioFile
Thérèse Plummer’s thoughtful narration ably explores this offbeat novel’s meditation on family…Plummer narrates Izzy’s thoughts with a musing, restrained tone…When occasional flashes of passion and anger reverberate, they’re all the more striking against the quiet backdrop Plummer creates. She voices a large cast of characters and deftly distinguishes each, with Izzy being especially delightful. Plummer’s intimate tone invites listeners to reflect on the poignant imperfections inherent in families of all kinds. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A moving and sincere reflection on what it truly means to become a family.”
New York Times Book Review
A good story, and even better storytelling.”
Entertainment Weekly
"Perfect Little World finds its bliss in the vast disconnect between people’s best intentions and where they land.”
Publishers Weekly
Sweet and thoroughly satisfying…Wilson…uses his intriguing premise to explore the meaning of family and the limits of rational decision making.”
Library Journal
[A] moving novel about love, parenting, and the families we create for ourselves.”
Knoxville News-Sentinel
A refreshingly un-ironic attitude toward love.”
Booklist (starred review)
Stellar…Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.”
Newsday
The sheer energy of imagination in Wilson’s work makes other writers of realistic fiction look lazy. . . . The novel’s grand finale . . . reminds us that not everything unpredictable is painful or bad, and that conventional arrangements have no monopoly on the profound connections that make family.
GQ
Persistently compassionate. . . . Wilson’s best moments are funny and earnest. . . . [His] crisp language and smart plotting make Perfect Little World immensely likable and absolutely enjoyable.
NPR
Delicious. . . . Wilson is such an inventive and witty writer. . . . [His] ‘perfect little world’ of a novel pretty much lives up to its title.
Deep South Magazine
Wilson does an incredible job of telling a compelling story while addressing important social issues. . . . Thought-provoking.
John Irving
A good story, and even better storytelling.
People
Wild. . . . [A] provocative read.
Washington Post
Charming. . . . Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone. . . . The novel delights in the project’s Willy Wonkaesque sense of antic chaos.
Bookpage
In light and lively prose that practically tap dances on the page, Wilson shrewdly probes the intricate tensions and machinations that lie at the core of this eccentric family unit. . . . A provocative and uplifting read.
Starred Review Booklist
Stellar. . . . Compelling. . . . Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.
Washington Post
Charming. . . . Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone. . . . The novel delights in the project’s Willy Wonkaesque sense of antic chaos.
GQ
Persistently compassionate. . . . Wilson’s best moments are funny and earnest. . . . [His] crisp language and smart plotting make Perfect Little World immensely likable and absolutely enjoyable.
Washington Post
Charming. . . . Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone. . . . The novel delights in the project’s Willy Wonkaesque sense of antic chaos.
Entertainment Weekly
Quirky. . . . Wilson’s Perfect Little World finds its bliss in the vast disconnect between people’s best intentions and where they land.
People
Wild. . . . [A] provocative read.
Houston Chronicle
Family is far more than a biological bond; that’s not a groundbreaking idea. But Wilson has found a lovely new way of telling readers something they know by heart.
Starred Review Booklist
Stellar. . . . Compelling. . . . Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.
Knoxville News-Sentinel
The compensation is a greater richness in the characters, and a refreshingly un-ironic attitude toward love
Deep South Magazine
Wilson does an incredible job of telling a compelling story while addressing important social issues. . . . Thought-provoking.
Bookpage
In light and lively prose that practically tap dances on the page, Wilson shrewdly probes the intricate tensions and machinations that lie at the core of this eccentric family unit. . . . A provocative and uplifting read.
NPR
Delicious. . . . Wilson is such an inventive and witty writer. . . . [His] ‘perfect little world’ of a novel pretty much lives up to its title.
Newsday
The sheer energy of imagination in Wilson’s work makes other writers of realistic fiction look lazy. . . . The novel’s grand finale . . . reminds us that not everything unpredictable is painful or bad, and that conventional arrangements have no monopoly on the profound connections that make family.
Wall Street Journal
Inventive and hilarious. This is complex psychological ground. . . . Wilson navigates it with a calm experience.
Esquire
Wilson writes stylishly, with a clear eye for family dysfunction and the absurdity of the contemporary art world, but his real skill is technical, building up a slow-drip mystery in which everyone is suspected of high crimes or high art until the very end.
Time
Kevin Wilson expertly navigates between pathos and black comedy while negotiating a smart debate about the human cost of sacrificing all for one’s art. Fang has bite but is also incredibly fun.
Boston Globe
Wilson’s ambition alone is exciting. . . . [His] writing has a Houdinilike perfection, wherein no matter how grim the variables, each lovely sentence manages to escape with all its parts intact.
Fresh Air NPR
It’s such a minty fresh delight to open up The Family Fang, and feel the revitalizing blast of original thought; robust invention. . . . Wilson’s inventive genius never stops. . . . [It] will linger in your mind long after.
Kevin Wilson's acclaimed first novel
Praise for The Family Fang
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-10-26
That infamous village that's needed to raise a child comes to fruition when a brilliant researcher creates a communal parenting experiment.This is another bittersweet story about messed-up families from the talented Wilson (The Family Fang, 2011, etc.) but one in which the author stays a bit more grounded, keeping an atmosphere of emotional authenticity that rings true. Wilson's muse is Izzy Poole, a just-graduated high schooler with a particular talent for barbecuing meat, who finds herself in dire straits. She's pregnant with her emotionally disturbed art teacher's baby and estranged from her father. After the art teacher commits suicide, Izzy is confronted with a very odd proposal from a researcher with an agenda. At the behest of a retail mogul, Dr. Preston Grind is determined to create a model in which 10 children are raised by a commune of parents, with no child knowing who their biological parents are. We quickly learn that the doctor is actually a hot mess, raised by two famous child psychologists who subjected their child to constant and unexpected stress throughout his upbringing. Grind may have inherited their brilliance but he's also a cutter with borderline PTSD. Torn between the experiment and raising her son, Cap, alone, Izzy decides to go along with Grind's complex scheme. "She would make it work," Wilson writes. "Izzy would find tiny ways to make herself essential, to succeed when it seemed so unlikely. Ten years, that's what she had. She would mine every essential element out of these ten years and she would be transformed." The second half of the novel checks in on this "Infinite Family Project" every year or two, as Wilson delves into the drama and tensions inherent in this strange aquarium. Relationships begin to splinter, even as Izzy becomes fundamentally reliant on the group. "We're a family," Grind says, near the end. "An imperfect one." A moving and sincere reflection on what it truly means to become a family.
