The Flying Troutmans: A Novel [Hardcover]

Miriam Toews (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A road novel helped along by a lovably nutty cast, Toews's latest (after A Complicated Kindness) follows a ragtag crew as they crisscross America. Hattie, recently dumped in Paris by her moody, adjective-hating boyfriend, returns home to Canada after receiving an emergency phone call from her niece. Turns out, Hattie's sister, Min, is back in the psych ward, and her kids, 11-year-old Thebes and 15-year-old Logan, are fending for themselves. Thus the quirky trio—purple-haired, wise-beyond-her-years Thebes, recently expelled brother Logan and overwhelmed Hattie—embark on a road trip to the States to find the kids' long-missing father. What follows is a Little Miss Sunshine–like quest in which the characters learn about themselves and each other as they weather car repairs, sleazy motel rooms and encounters with bizarre people. Toews's gift for writing precocious children and the story's antic momentum redeem the familiar set-up, and if the ending feels a bit rushed, it's largely because it's tough to let Toews's characters go. (Oct.)
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From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Ron Charles Miriam Toews saunters along the line between comedy and grief as if she might lose her balance at any moment. But she never does. The precarious tone of her novels about fractured families is the crafted effect of a nimble writer. Raised by Mennonites in a small Canadian town, Toews has developed an irresistible sense of absurdity leavened with real affection for the quirky characters who inhabit her stories. The Flying Troutmans, her fourth novel, invites immediate comparison with the popular indie movie "Little Miss Sunshine." Like Michael Arndt's film, it's about a collection of oddball family members on a cross-country road trip toward a highly unlikely goal. Deadpan irony and hip cultural references abound. But Toews steps over the camp and sentimentality of "Little Miss Sunshine" and displays a sharper sense of the grinding tragedy of mental illness. The story is narrated by Hattie Troutman, a young woman who's just been dumped by her flaky boyfriend in Paris when she gets word that her older sister, Min, has fallen into a deep depression -- again. Hattie would rather wander around the City of Light feeling sorry for herself, but somebody has to take care of Min and her two kids back in Canada. She's been trying to kill herself for years, Hattie explains. "I had no choice. There was no question." But she finds the situation at home even more alarming than she'd feared. Bedridden and suicidal, Min needs to be hospitalized immediately. "Please help me die," she asks Hattie, and then tells her not to let the kids visit. "It's too hard." Unable to let her niece and nephew know the truth and realizing that they'll be sent into foster care, Hattie devises a half-baked scheme to find their father. With only a vague sense of where he might be -- somewhere in California, perhaps -- the three of them set out in a rickety old van. Yes, the road trip storyline is a little tread-worn, but Toews has created such an engaging cast for this 2,000-mile trek that you'll never be tempted to ask, "Are we there yet?" Most of the novel's success stems from the fact that Min's two witty children are irresistible characters, alternately vulnerable, affectionate, terrified, brave and annoying. They're also very bright, not like the "gifted" children of every parent in the Washington area, but scarily precocious, burdened with that alienating sense of insight that can wreak havoc on young lives. Hattie's 11-year-old niece, Thebes, who never bathes or changes her clothes, has fake tattoos all over her arms and dyes her hair intense purple. She wears a toy holster, practices martial arts, makes "oversized novelty cheques" for everyone, and greets strangers with gangsta salutations: "What's shakin' homies?" All sticky from cotton candy and covered in glitter, she's a tear-your-heart-out character. "I'm on thin ice in the social hierarchy department," she tells her aunt, with her usual degree of disarming self-knowledge. Hattie notices that "Thebes had become a talking machine. Maybe she was attempting to use up all the words that Min had left behind, taking whatever popped into her head, any thought, idea or fact, and transforming it into sound, noise, life. She was talking for two, in double time." Her brother, 15-year-old Logan, seems a little better adjusted, but he's moody, teenage-quiet and in love with Deborah Solomon, the weekly Q&A columnist for the New York Times Magazine. Mostly, he's cloaked in a grey hoodie, listening to music on a pair of "giant air traffic controller headphones." But there are cracks in that impenetrable façade, times when Hattie can feel him screaming, "Rescue me." Toews is a genius at recording the everyday weirdness of young people, their capricious vacillation between screw-you sarcasm and tender pleading for affirmation. Some of the funniest parts of The Flying Troutmans describe the word games, art projects, true confessions and circular arguments to which a long, mind-numbing car trip can drive people of all ages. "Conversing with children is a fine art," Hattie realizes. "An art form that demands large amounts of both honesty and misdirection." "Can we not talk?" Logan pleads. "Let's have a quiet contest," Hattie suggests. As this "ad hoc family" wanders through one comic encounter after another on their way to California, Toews keeps the story grounded with flashbacks of Hattie's childhood. Min suffered from a frightening range of symptoms of manic depression and suicidal, even homicidal, behavior that their parents struggled to ignore or laugh off. We're never allowed to forget for long that, beneath the comedy, this is a story of loving someone who is mentally ill and of standing by your responsibilities no matter what. Hattie believes she has no idea what she's doing, but her instincts are right. "There is not one single thing that I am certain of," she confesses, "except that I have to make sure Thebes and Logan are taken care of." There is no false promise in this story, just an awareness that in this chaotic world the only stability comes from our love for one another, quirks and all. In Toews's hands, that can be funny or heartbreaking, usually at the same time. When Hattie describes Logan as "all badly disguised tenderness and tentative joy," you know just what she means.
Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; First Edition edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582434395
• ISBN-13: 978-1582434391
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #692,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Three and a half star review., August 18, 2008

By	Marilyn (Southeastern Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The Flying Troutmans: A Novel (Hardcover)

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For the most part, I found this novel to be engaging, if a little light on plot, and not to be taken too seriously. I applaud the book's attempt to deal with the issue of mental illness, and its effects on family members. I also commend the story's courage in dealing with the disease realistically, because, although we often hear of the miracles that the latest series of pharmaceuticals can bring to patients (in TV and magazine ads and the like), the truth is, that for every patient that finds relief with drug therapy, many more will not. And, so, unfortunately, mental illness is often a chronic and life long disease for many people.

That being said, the story itself, while having some touching and humorous moments, had a few problems with character development. The precocious 11 year old was just a little too precocious, and it took way, way too long for her adult aunt to finally give that child a bath!!!

My biggest disappointment with the book was its obvious similarity to the 2006 movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". We have the precocious, quirky, female child, the sulky teen boy, a van that breaks down, and an extended road trip. Ok, so the book doesn't include a drug-addicted, eventually dead grandfather with obvious psychological problems, but it does have a mother with mental illness who is ever present in the van, though not physically, because of the amount of time the characters discuss, think, and attempt to contact her via pay phones (so they don't believe in cell phones in Canada, eh?).

There is even a similarity in the endings involving the sulky male teen, which I won't go into in detail, so as not to spoil it for others. While I enjoyed some of the story, the portions of the novel that were original and fresh were few and far between. The writing was very good, the story flowed (except for the bath bit and the constant stopping at pay phones), but the book was too reminiscent of a road trip we already took at the movies in 2006.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise, August 20, 2008

By	Melissa Niksic (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Flying Troutmans: A Novel (Hardcover)

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I must admit, I didn't have very high expectations for this book. I read "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews, and I wasn't very impressed by it. However, as soon as I began "The Flying Troutmans," I could tell it was going to be a completely different reading experience. This book is about Hattie, a 28-year old woman who takes over caring for her niece and nephew when her older sister, Min, is institutionalized. Hattie, Logan, and Thebes embark on a spontaneous road trip in search of the childrens' father, and learn a lot about themselves and each other in the process.

This is a terrific book. Toews has a very unique writing style, and I became completely engrossed with the story from the very first page. All of the characters are dynamic and endearing, and I felt very invested in their outcome. I enjoyed "The Flying Troutmans" very much and highly recommend it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and Heart-breaking, August 8, 2008

By	ephemeral - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The Flying Troutmans: A Novel (Hardcover)

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The concept of The Flying Troutmans is simple: Hattie Troutman comes home to care for her niece and nephew when her sister is committed to a mental hospital. Hattie's solution to dealing with the situation and the emotional issues of the whole family is a spontaneous road trip in search of the children's father. This book isn't about the plot at all; it focuses completely on the three members of the Troutman family, their relationships with one another, and how they deal with a loved one's mental instability and their own emotional baggage. It's extraordinarily funny, depressing, and beautiful all at once. It also has a feeling of realism that many novels lack.

My only complaint was that dialogue wasn't indicated with the standard quotation marks. It was sometimes hard to follow who was speaking, what parts they were actually saying, and what parts were thoughts and not spoken words. Nevertheless, it doesn't greatly detract from the ease of reading this book. Anyone interested in a realistic and beautifully written story about families dynamics should try The Flying Troutmans.