Author: David Barringer

Publisher: So New Publishing

ISBN: 10: 0977815129: 13:9780977815128

Perhaps the tritest cliché in the English language is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’m inclined to agree with this; but I will say that it’s not actually a bad way of picking which book to read. I’ll admit most reviewers base their selections on something a bit loftier—something with more social or artistic reasoning behind it. And maybe that’s how it should be. But, let’s be realistic. Publishers put a lot of money and effort into making their covers appealing and the business of books is as much about the covers as what lies between them. So why not indulge a little in the capitalistic feast we are served? Why not act completely irrational whilst in the marketplace? After all, the forces of market capitalism are certainly much stronger than you or I. Go ahead; go out and buy something simply because it’s striking to your eye. That’s exactly what led me to David Barringer’s novel, American Home Life. Now of course, I don’t really mean to suggest that you buy a copy of the book simply because its cover is so modish. If that was what I was driving at, this would be one of the shittiest reviews ever written. However, a few words about the book may convince you that the text is worth your attention as well.

Although Barringer calls the book a novel, it really plays out as a tightly constructed set of vignettes depicting the day to day life of a family called the Dorans. Although nothing all that exceptional seems to happen in the short episodes of the book, the reader becomes intimate with the Dorans through the voice of Henry, the patriarch who reveals them as a funny, quirky, suburban family that most readers will find no trouble identifying with. They rush around in the morning to make it to school and work on time; they drive a minivan; and they enjoy spending time as a family. In fact the only difference between the Dorans and most families we see around us today is that Barringer sets them and thus the story somewhere in the indeterminate future, to a time where appliances converse with their owners, ankle bracelets help people lose weight and parents can even implant identification chips in their children to keep track of them.

This futuristic setting is perhaps the most successful aspect of the book. Although, futuristic settings in general have the tendency to become a bit tacky, American Home Life is futuristic in a fun, eccentric way. In fact, the setting is perfectly matched with the stories about this classic, archetypical American family, serving both as a source of amusement and impressionably expressing the overarching theme of the book, the continuity and significance of family as an institution in society.

Besides, the slightly unorthodox episodic layout of the narrative, Barringer also does some experimentation with textual form. Here, Barringer’s artistic manipulation of paragraph and sentence structure is presently surprising. It is completely accessible to even the most casual of readers but palatable and imaginative nonetheless. Possibly the best example can be found in a dream sequence located near the middle of the book, where Barringer’s strange paragraph form is used flawlessly to complement a rather nicely written bit of surrealistic description.

Another thing that was done quite well In American Home Life was Barringer’s use of wit and irony as tools for making an iconoclastic critique of contemporary American life. Although it’s not the kind of book that compels the reader to laugh aloud, it does force more than its share of chuckles and understanding smiles, especially for those of us with children.

However, American Home Life does contain a few elements that are wanting. Foremost, Barringer seems inclined to slip into excessively maudlin passages. The book’s vignette style and therefore lack of traditional plot elements also make it difficult to get completely absorbed in. Still, American Home Life’s mawkish nature does not substantially minimalize its overall appeal and its vignettes are great for short bursts of entertainment and a little enlightenment as well… And let’s face it; the book actually does have a stylish cover and although you don’t have to admit it aloud, we all know that’s really why we buy books anyway.

The above review was contributed by: Anthony Squiers.  Anthony is a writer and professor of English and Creative Writing at Southwester Michigan College.

His writing has been featured in a number of print and online publications including Southwest Michigan Magazine and Recoil Magazine. To read more of Anthony's reviews CLICK HERE