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Family of Origin: A Novel Hardcover – July 16, 2019

by CJ Hauser (Author)

3.9 135 ratings

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*A novel by the author of the viral essay sensation "The Crane Wife"*

"An innovative work of climate fiction, a nuanced and empathic family story, and, for my money, the summer's best novel thus far."
--NPR.org

"The most oddly enticing novel you will read this year...Keenly satirical yet unashamedly tender."
--Wall Street Journal

"Reminiscent of the family explorations of Rick Moody, Jennifer Egan, and Lauren Groff...Full of brilliantly realized characters, Hauser's latest is profound, often incredibly funny, and captures the times like few other contemporary novels."
--Booklist (starred)

When Nolan Grey receives news that his father, a once-prominent biologist, has drowned off Leap's Island, he calls on Elsa, his estranged, older half-sister, to help pick up the pieces. This, despite the fact that it was he and Elsa who broke the family in the first place. The Greys have been avoiding each other for a dozen years.

Elsa and Nolan travel to their father's field station, a wild and isolated spot off the Gulf Coast. Here, their father's fatalistic colleagues, the Reversalists, obsessively study the undowny bufflehead, a rare sea duck whose loss of waterproof feathers proves, they say, that evolution is running in reverse and humanity's best days are behind us.

On an island that is always looking backward, it's impossible for the siblings to ignore their past. Stuck together in the close quarters of their island stilt-house, and provoked by the absurd antics of the remaining Reversalists, years of family secrecy and blame between Elsa and Nolan threaten to ruin them all over again. As the Greys urgently trek the island to find the so-called Paradise Duck, their father's final obsession, they begin to fear that they were their father's first evidence that the future held no hope.

In the irreverent and exuberant spirit of Kevin Wilson, Alissa Nutting, and Karen Russell, CJ Hauser speaks to a generation's uncertainties: Is it possible to live in our broken world with both scientific pragmatism and hope? What does one generation owe another? How do we know which parts of the past, and ourselves, to jettison and which to keep? Delightfully funny, fiercely original, high-spirited and warm, Family of Origin grapples with questions of nature and nurture, evolution and mating, intimacy and betrayal, progress and forgiveness.

Length

304
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

Doubleday
Publication date

2019
July 16
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.0 x 9.8
inches
ISBN-10

0385544626
ISBN-13

978-0385544627
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

"CJ Hauser's Family of Origin is strange in that way raw honesty often is. It is sharp in its prose and in how it can so cleanly make you feel pierced through. Hauser lures us to an island and from there we learn of family and loss and the nature of our essential humanity. Funny and unforgettable."
—Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black

“A bold, strange novel, one that spirits readers to some of the furthest reaches of human experience. Wildly inventive and intensely moving.”
—R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries

“Family of Origin is a meditation on a singularly unique family that opens up to embrace all of us, every single family, every human being, and it doesn't let go. It's amazing…a supremely weird novel that displays humor and heartbreak in equal measure.”
—Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang

“In Family of Origin, CJ Hauser explores and explodes the most complex moments in life: those moments with a power that spirals both backward and forward in time, those moments that shift in meaning and shape us into who we are. This riveting and emotionally intricate book doesn’t shy away from the deepest questions about how a family, and a species, can survive.”
—Helen Phillips, author of The Need and The Beautiful Bureaucrat

“Family of Origin is a novel full of wonders: a heartfelt, hilarious book about the possible end of a family, and the world, and how an obscure duck on an obscure island populated by obscure scientists might just save us all. There is some serious magic in these pages. All hail CJ Hauser, who has made us a funny, tender, and hopeful book, just when we need it the most.”
—Brock Clarke, author of An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England

“CJ Hauser's Family of Origin is unexpected and beautiful and utterly propulsive. Set in a world where colonizing Mars is a possibility, where a group of scientists and misfits believe that evolution is running in reverse, where love is strange and changeable and astonishing, Family of Origin reveals a new, spectacular universe. I've never read anything quite like it.”
—Anton DiSclafani, author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

“Shimmering yet precise…Family of Origin may be the most oddly enticing novel you will read this year...Keenly satirical yet unashamedly tender.”
—Wall Street Journal

“CJ Hauser's oddball-brilliant second novel [is] a spirited defense of the maligned millennial generation. It's also an innovative work of climate fiction, a nuanced and empathic family story, and, for my money, the summer's best novel thus far.”
—NPR.org

“Reminiscent of the family explorations of Rick Moody, Jennifer Egan, and Lauren Groff, this tragicomic novel explores climate change, family ties, and the millennial generation’s feeling that they have arrived late to the party, that humanity and the environment appear to be declining before their eyes. Full of brilliantly realized characters, Hauser’s latest is profound, often incredibly funny, and captures the times like few other contemporary novels.”
—Booklist (starred)

“A strange and heartbreaking novel…Hauser's ability to render the complexities of family relationships with radical honesty is a feat…A lesser writer would not be able to deliver the disturbing and weird with the grace that Hauser does. A unique, poignant, and slightly taboo novel about family, biology, and evolution.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Hauser impresses with her wistful contemporary tale of family bonds and misplaced pessimism…This shimmering take on grief and family will enthrall fans of character-driven stories with its bevy of dashed dreams and cluttered emotions.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[S]harply and mysteriously illuminating…Hauser is a sharp and often witty observer of human behavior. She brilliantly portrays some of the central issues of contemporary life, particularly issues for the lives of millennials. And she raises provocative questions about how contemporary human beings will survive and make full lives for themselves in the future.”
—BookPage

About the Author

CJ Hauser teaches creative writing and literature at Colgate University. She is the author of the novel The From-Aways and her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Tin House, Narrative Magazine, TriQuarterly, Esquire, Third Coast, and The Kenyon Review. She holds an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in Creative Writing from Florida State University. She lives in Hamilton, New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday; First Edition (July 16, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385544626
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385544627
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,567,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #626 in Absurdist Fiction (Books)
- #18,961 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #64,280 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.9 135 ratings

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CJ Hauser

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CJ Hauser (she/they) teaches creative writing and literature at Colgate University.

Their first full length work of nonfiction, The Crane Wife: a memoir-in-essays was recently released from Doubleday in the US and Viking in the UK.

Their novel, Family of Origin, was published by Doubleday in 2019, and their novel, The From-Aways, was published by William Morrow in 2014.

Their work has also appeared in Tin House, Narrative Magazine, The Paris Review, TriQuarterly, Esquire, Third Coast, The Kenyon Review, The Guardian, Bon Appetit, Elle Magazine UK, Vogue UK and The New York Times. They hold an MFA from Brooklyn College and a PhD from Florida State University.

www.cjhauser.com

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5

135 global ratings

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Kate Gaskin

Tender and compelling

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

Family of Origin is a clever and a compelling read with out of this world characterization and more than enough plot to keep readers engaged. I loved spending time with this family and discovering all of their secrets. Hauser's writing is lush and atmospheric and at times very funny and tender. This is a beautiful book.

5 people found this helpful

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mountain mama

Engaging and unusual read

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

The family dynamics in this book are unusual. The writing is clear, descriptive and kept my attention. I like books with a twist and this one has a few! Fortunately the ending is satisfying.

8 people found this helpful

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colleen dunn

Loved the plot, hated the characters

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

The story was extremely interesting. The characters unfortunately were completely unlikable. Would have liked more science and less weird brother-sister-ish romantic drama

5 people found this helpful

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Jane Anderson

Very good read

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

As a wildlife biologist, I really enjoyed this read. The author clearly did a lot of research into the science

One person found this helpful

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Lauren Coombs

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

I really liked all the sciencey stuff but it was a lil weird. Overall a good read and a good book tho

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the initial descriptions and found the characters intriguing….at first. Then I got tired of them and kept hoping that the end of each chapter was the end. So, not for me.

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

Couldn't get into the characters or story.

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019