The Way the Family Got Away: A Novel [Paperback]

Michael Kimball (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2000

In Michael Kimball's disturbing first novel, a three-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother try to comprehend their family's journey through a series of towns after the death of one of their siblings - she by playing with her doll family in an effort to understand the emotional landscape, and he by meticulously assessing the physical geography: the names of the towns and the things it took them to get there. Their final stop is their grandfather's house, where they're left to face an uncertain future. Through the eyes and in the language of children, Kimball tries to make sense of loss, love, and death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Detailing the cross-country migration of a nameless blue-collar family after the death of an infant child, Kimball's brief, unusual novel alternates narration by two extremely young characters: the family's surviving son and his barely school-age sister. Both points of view are delivered in rambling stream-of-consciousness as the family, in grief and desperation, packs everything they own into their car and drives to "Bompa's" house. They sell off their belongings in order to make enough money to get to each next town: the baby cradle, clothes, the kids' toys, even family pictures. Both children are disturbed by this gradual depletion, but the boy finds comfort in taking a sort of inventory of what was sold, while the little girl loses herself in make believe about her dolls. The children's perspective doesn't give a clear picture of the parents, who seem so neglectful and irresponsible that one wonders if they have gone insane with grief. Eventually, the mother becomes pregnant but miscarries, and, somewhat unbelievably, the family is robbed of its last meager possessions by roadside thieves. At book's end the parents abandon the children at Bompa's house. Kimball evinces an undeniable feel for the cadences of children's speech. He creates clever compound words--"house-car," "night-sun," "dirt-world"--for those frequent instances in which his young narrators find their limited vocabularies exhausted. But the notion that young children's thoughts contain a poeticism and profundity destroyed by the pressure to conform to adult society is presented with a heavy hand. Despite the presence of some genuine stylistic flair and a consistent tone, the tale feels underdeveloped, yet overworked. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Reminiscent of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, this novel alternates between the stream-of-consciousness narratives of two very young children. Kimball (Mouth to Mouth) uses their voices to describe the events surrounding the death of their infant brother and their family's subsequent flight across country with the dead baby stored in a toy box in the trunk of their car. The older brother focuses on the distances they travel and the possessions they trade away to get from one place to another, while the sister attempts to make sense of her baby brother's death and her parents' apparent attempts to conceive a replacement. Both children struggle with the concept of "not being" and periodically attempt to revive their dead sibling. Unlike Faulkner's tragicomic novel, however, Kimball's story is relentless in its misery. He is successful in illustrating the children's attempts to cope with and make some meaning of their massive loss and complete powerlessness, yet the jumbled syntax of their thoughts soon becomes annoying. Rather than furthering the story, it seems contrived and gratuitous. Not essential.ARebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows (April 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581564
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581569
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,056,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving and Powerful Story, May 9, 2000

By 

Pat Ford (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way the Family Got Away: A Novel (Hardcover)

Our small book club meets once a month & I usually don't finish reading the selection until the night before -- even though I always buy the book right after we decide the next title. I'm busy but optimistic. Well, I started this book Sunday night (2 days ago)& literally could not put it down. I haven't been this enthralled and moved (no pun intended) by anything we've read since Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes". I HIGHLY recommend it -- I have been looking at the world a little differently today because of it.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a Redefining of American Literature!, July 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way the Family Got Away: A Novel (Hardcover)

And it couldn't come at a better time. You've never read anything like this book. Buy it and read it now. After you've read it, read it again. Michael Kimball is one of the most promising writers of the new millennium. One hundred and sixty pages of finely-crafted genius--Kimball is a master of rhythm and melody, delivering a story as powerful as a hammer blow to the soul. If you have a weak heart, suffer back problems, or are a pregnant woman, step out of the car to the left. If you are ready to experience something bold, new and exciting, then this ride is for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a Redefining of American Literature!, July 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way the Family Got Away: A Novel (Hardcover)

And it couldn't come at a better time. You've never read anything like this book. Buy it and read it now. After you've read it, read it again. Michael Kimball is one of the most promising writers of the new millennium. One hundred and sixty pages of finely-crafted genius--Kimball is a master of rhythm and melody, delivering a story as powerful as a hammer blow to the soul. If you have a weak heart, suffer back problems, or are a pregnant woman, step out of the car to the left. If you are ready to experience something bold, new and exciting, then this ride is for you.