A Field Guide to the North American Family [Hardcover]

Garth Risk Hallberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

For years, the Hungates and the Harrisons have coexisted peacefully in the suburbs of New York. But when the patriarch of one family dies, the survivors face a stark imperative: adapt or face extinction.

In sixty-three entries and an accompanying website, A Field Guide to the North American Family offers a collaborative portrait of two fictional specimens. Photographers contributed this edition’s lavish illustrations via afieldguide.com, an ongoing, networked Internet community. Though the novella’s entries can be read straight through, alphabetical headings and cross-referenced design enable readers to move through the narrative as they see fit.

Part fiction, part reference work, part photo-essay, this singular Field Guide invites readers and participants to consider the state of the family--and to explore the future of the book.
Garth Risk Hallberg holds an MFA from New York University. His fiction has been published in Glimmer Train, Canteen, Evergreen Review and h2so4, and in the anthology Best New American Voices (Harcourt). He is also a regular contributor to The Millions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Garth Risk Hallberg is the author of the novella A Field Guide to the North American Family and was selected by Richard Bausch as one of 2008′s “Best New American Voices.” His short stories have been published, most recently, in Glimmer Train, Canteen, and The Pinch. Essays have appeared in Slate, More Intelligent Life, and the Best of the Web anthology. A 2008 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Fiction, Garth teaches at Fordham University. He’s finishing up his first novel and a story collection. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977985091
• ISBN-13: 978-0977985098
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reread Value, January 22, 2008

By 

O. Ramirez (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Field Guide to the North American Family (Hardcover)

"63 entries, each comprising a chapter of text and a visual artist's response to the entry's title."

I was hooked on that alone. Then I sat down and read it. I'm about 3/4 done and have to say that this is unlike anything I've read before. In the video game industry there is a term call "replay value." After you're done with it would you play it again or is the fun gone after once through?

This book has much "reread value." Cool concept executed well.

Use the link for more info.
http://www.slate.com/id/2182002
http://www.variouscool.com

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innocence to Mythology, July 28, 2009

By 

Sammy Rules (rockville, maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to the North American Family (Hardcover)

Honest and direct, Halberg's 'A Field Guide to the North American Family' taunts you from the shelf as another ironic humor book. The novella presents itself as an actual field guide, but instead of chronicling the biology of families as a species, it chronicles the emotions and events that take us from childhood to adulthood. The loose narrative can be read from cover to cover in alphabetical order, or at complete random, either way you'll be picking up the pieces of these shattered lives. All of the self-doubt felt on a daily basis, and through a lifetime, are on the table, with foot notes on how you got there. Guide words like "Phase" are cross-referenced with "Boredom", "Freedom" and "Sibling Rivalry", the stories attached to each entry offer another piece of the puzzle, another explanation as to why things happened the way they did. Essential for anyone who likes to feel bad about themselves, reminisce about times you felt empty, or wonder about where things went wrong.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant work, February 5, 2008

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Field Guide to the North American Family (Hardcover)

This brilliantly desgined and crafted book should be a must read for anyone looking for something to calm the soul and warm the heart. A fascinatingly original idea the author develops the idea put forward by Sebald Austerlitz and brings it to an American setting, offering us a rare insight into the lives of two American families, the Hungates and Harrisons through photographs and brilliant writing. A very nice set piece narrative completes this book that should be referred to as a veritable art work.

Readers will not be disappointed.

Seth J. Frantzman