Customer Reviews

More Than Enough: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John Fulton explores the breakdown of the dysfunctional family so thoroughly and so intimately in this book that while I was reading I often felt the embarrassment of one who is caught snooping. Steven Parker and his sister Jenny are caught in the downward spiral of their parents hopes and regrets about the lives they've chosen. Living in the, primarily Mormon, society of Salt Lake City is making it difficult for Billy Parker, the father, to pass on his strong disbelief in God to his children. Jenny makes friends with a girl on the cheerleading squad and begins memorizing the Ten Commandments, while Steven deals with the after-effects of being bullied by some rich neighborhood brats. Mary Parker carries the financial burden of her husbands lack of work ethics and swears every time Billy goes a little nuts that she's taking the kids and leaving.

What captivated me about this story is the way that Fulton dissects this falling-out so carefully... taking the length of a book to narrate the couple of months it takes for this family's inevitable disintegration. This kind of information gives birth to gossip in the real world, but here we get the whole, messy, painfully honest story. While the ending did leave me feeling slightly depressed, it is also very realistic and, therefore, leaves that small crack of hope open. This is a wonderful story written by an author who truly knows his characters.

John Fulton is an excellent writer with all the stuff to become a great one. This novel is way too bleak, in my opinion. The bad, uncomfortable, painful scenes follow one after another, without a single ray of hope... ever. It is beautifully observed, gorgeously written, achingly painful... but it doesn't have a central idea to walk away from it with...except perhaps that life [is terrible]. Other than admiring the fine prose, the reader gets nothing except a depressing situation to ponder. I want more from this talented writer than a heaping helping of gloom; I want a larger context to view all this from and Fulton doesn't provide it. I don't want anything trite or Hallmark, mind you, just SOMETHING redemptive.

Steven Parker's family moves to Salt Lake City as his father's last chance to improve their lot. They live a rich fantasy life that covers up the harshness of their poverty in the middle of an affluent city until Steven's arm is yanked out of its socket by a boy who objects to his lack of belief in God. Billy, Steven's dad, has not paid the health insurance bills, so Steven has to be driven in the snow clear across town to the local charity hospital. When Billy negotiates a settlement with the family of the boy who beat up Steven, the temporary affluence the money causes pushes the family over the edge.

One day, when Steven's mother witnesses a death at the elder care facilty where she performs menial work so the family will never be without health insurance again, the same day Billy's grades at the school where he is supposed to be training for a second career come in as failures, she gets fed up, and she acts decisively to break the family apart. A single day takes up two-thirds of the book as the scenario is played out, leaving her and her daughter safe and financially secure and Billy and Steven alone together with no prospects.

This book has a lot to say about teenage angst, the paper-thin veneer of many Americans' affluence and the culture shocks that can still affect us in this seemingly homogenous society. Ultimately, some of the reactions, particularly Steven's, seemed a little contrived and overly dramatic, and the reactions to him appeared unrealistic. But Fulton is a superb writer and the Salt Lake he recreates is true to life.

First of all, let me say that Fulton can flat-out write. He does an absolutely wonderful job of capturing the nuances of human behavior while portraying a family in crisis. Why, then, didn't I give this book five stars? Because I, too, wanted some sort of redemption for its characters, and Fulton never offered it. The conflict between its characters was not resolved in a way that offered any real hope for its protagonist. As a result, I found this to be a very bleak, unfulfilling novel.

This is a lovely first novel which follows a Salt Lake City family as it implodes. My favorite part of the novel is the extended section that takes place over a day, including some hilarious and harrowing forays into a diner and a nursing home. The adolescent protagionist's crack-up is as compelling as Holden Caulfield's--a claim I don't make lightly. I hope this wild and wooly novel finds the wide readership it deserves.

A very well done first novel.

Fulton tells a story about a blue collar family who has moved to Salt Lake City so the father can take classes to get a better job. The kids aren't happy about the move, especially after the boy gets beat up by a bunch of Mormon boys who dissaprove of his atheism. The father, a really angry guy, flunks out of his classes, and the Mother struggles to keep her family together. Not as gloomy as it sounds, because the characters are genuinely sympathetic. Very realistic story telling, well written, I liked it very much.

Wow. This is the devastating portrayal of the break-up of a marriage and the collapse of a family. I read this on a flight from NY to LA and was near tears for part of the trip. The author has uncanny insight into human nature and an astonishing ability to translate emotions into words.

This book will leave you breathless as you follow the story of the Parker family through the perspective of Stephen, the fifteen-year old narrator. Fulton explores this family's trials with a tenderness and precision that makes you laugh even while you're on the verge of tears. His prose is both polished and realistic, and the characters are drawn with an eye for the telling details. This is one of the best novels I've read this year.