The Miss America Family

I picked this book up at work... and started reading, and it just drew me in... it was a little slow from time to time, but it was so deep, and moving, and i really enjoyed it, and the people in it. It was sad, and moving, and touching, and funny. I reccommend it...

I love the quirky original characters Julianna Baggott creates. There's Pixie, a former Miss New Jersey who is now a dentist's wife. And there's Ezra, her 16-year-old web-toed son from her first marriage. Both have a keen eye for sharp observation, and view their world through a darkly comedic prism that cuts to the quick. I found myself chuckling as well as cringing as the images the author creates come fast and hard, creating a roller coaster of emotions in a seemingly simple but emotionally complex story that leaves little breathing space.This is a coming-of-age story for both mother and son. She has to confront the demons of her past; he has to come to terms with his gay father and the act of violence that his mother perpetrates against her new husband. Her memories haunt her; his are the basis for his new awakenings. As the book goes on, we learn more and more about the family and Pixie's mother, whose eccentricities are forgiven when her own past secret act of courage is unearthed. All this is set in the wasteland of suburbia, and every detail of description is unique, offbeat and fresh.I totally enjoyed this book and the probing insights that go way beneath the surface. Ms. Baggott has a gift of using humor and pathos with brutal honesty. It makes for good reading.

Julianna's books just [draw] you in. Her most recent.."The Miss America Family" put me right in the novel along side of Pixie and Ezra and the rest of the characters. What I most loved was the availablity of palpable feelings from these intricate figures. Ezra is the kind of character who makes you feel as if you arent the only one who doesn't understand their place in this world. Pixie makes you think that even if you may think you know who you are...you may just be wrong. I loved how even though both of their lives were dramtically changed by tragedy and heartache that they didnt give up on each other; that in the end they were just a "normal family". I recommend this delight to any and all!

A fascinating, funny, wise, and heartbreaking story, this one leads us on the quest for fathers, good, bad, indifferent, but always mysterious. Is your daddy the man in the dark, the man in the convertible, or the man who pulls teeth? Julianna Baggott's characters, the appealing and frustrated son Ezra, the appealing and frustrated mom Pixie, find each other as much as they find their fathers. Ezra, child of a Miss New Jersey and a closet gay, discovers the best of all possible worlds through his relentless honesty and his willingness to ask hard questions. Pixie, his beauty-pageant mom, finally comes to a similar resolution and a separate peace. Read this book. Everybody who has ever been caught in the middle of families needs it.