& Sons

I'd rate this 3.5 stars."Fathers start as gods and end as myths and in between whatever human form they take can be calamitous for their sons."So says Philip Topping, near the start of And Sons, David Gilbert's emotionally rich if overstuffed novel about familial relations, primarily fathers and sons. The death of Philip's father, Charles Henry Topping, is not much of an event by New York standards--except for the appearance of reclusive write A.N. (Andrew) Dyer, Charles' oldest friend, who is persuaded to deliver his eulogy. But the eulogy deliver doesn't go quite as well as Andrew hoped, and fearing his own impending physical and emotional decline, he decides to make amends with those whom he has harmed, in particular his two older sons, Richard and Jamie.Andrew summons both sons home to his New York City apartment, to join him and his youngest son, Andy, whose illegitimate birth 17 years ago tore apart their family. Richard, an aspiring screenwriter and full-time drug abuse counselor who escaped to California years before, comes home with his own family in tow, as well as some interesting plans that involve his father's capitulation. Jamie is a wanderer, who has spent many years traveling the world as a documentary filmmaker chronicling human suffering, but his own life is far from steady, as he finds himself haunted by a project involving a former girlfriend. And high school senior Andy is desperate both to understand his father better and lose his virginity (perhaps not in that exact order).The family reunion, of sorts, brings to light many issues that have remained unsaid through the years, reopens old wounds, and uncovers a secret that Andrew has kept hidden for many years. He is determined to make things right with Richard and Jamie, and try to ensure both his literary and familial legacies are strong. But things have a bizarre way of spinning out of control, in many different ways, as the characters begin to confront Andrew's mortality.At its core, this is a well-told (albeit somewhat familiar) story that is emotionally compelling, with flawed and not-entirely-sympathetic characters that make you want to keep reading. But Gilbert wasn't content to tell just this story--he had to throw in commentary on the fleeting celebrity of the literary world, a crazy scientific twist that will make you say, "Are you kidding?", not to mention the decision to have the unexciting Philip narrate the book (and share his own life struggles) really bogs the plot down from time to time. It seemed hard to believe this chronicler could always be at the right place at the right time to know what was happening.The bonds between father and son are complicated ones, and many novels have explored them over the years. And Sons is an interesting and well-written addition to this genre of sorts; I just wish that David Gilbert had stuck more to the core of his story, which had so much merit, instead of trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink into his plot. It almost seemed as if he didn't trust Andrew Dyer to anchor the book as much as the other characters didn't trust him, but that's where the story truly was.

"Jeanie Spokes was a full-fledged adult while Andy Dyer hovered around 83 percent in terms of development and experience and areas of skin without acne and even grades, which could ruin his chances for Yale and screw up his equivalency with this Columbia grad, dooming whatever outside chance he had beyond a mere online flirtation." This sentence appears early on in the novel and sets the tone for a really remarkable piece of fiction. You just have to love a rich kid like this with a father old enough to be his grandfather--plus--because the old man is one of the country's most beloved novelists. A little more as Andy, now on his last cigarette, waiting outside on the church steps for a very late (and never to show up) 24-year-od Jeanie, "wondered if Jesus was once a supreme embarrassment to his Father, this hippie carpenter who ran around with the freak crowd until finally he gave up on his dreams and stepped into the family business, probably to his mother's regret."Okay, is that not enough to make you order the book right now? And a few for friends while you are at it?Inside that church, filled, are the mourners and friends of Charles Henry Topping, his body not in the expensive coffin that his second wife has insisted upon--he has been cremated--and bowed into a comma near the front is A. N Dyer (AND!), the friend by boyhood on of the dead man. A. N Dyer has published many books, the most famous nearly fifty years before, "Ampersand," a biting satire about Exeter, much more biting than, say, "A Separate Peace." But the elderly novelist has had to resort to Googling how to write an appropriate send-off speech for his old friend. Who knew that Emma Norbert was out there in cyberspace ready and not that able--she has spelling issues--to help poor old A. N.So this is a novel within a novel. And our little 17-year-old buddy, Andy, is well, what else but an updated Holden Caulfield although without the first-person narrative voice. Andy discovers that the old guy actually has an email account. So he asks him: "Have you heard of instant messaging? My God, do you text? Blog? Facebook? Tweet and Tumble and Flickr? Pittypat? (I made that last one up.) A." I include this so you will believe me when I saw 17-year-old, lard-in- the-belly, acned-on-the-face, sex-on-the-brain, Exeter-hating Andy is going to provide you, the reader, with a Holden-type experience. And let's face it, J. D. Salinger did a mighty fine job with that character just as David Gilbert has done with this one and the rest. But of course it turns out it is not his father at all who is writing the emails from this account. And that's how Jeanie Spokes makes her way into Andy's fantasies.The novel is told in first person by the second son of the now-dead Charles Henry Topping, Philip, recently separated from his wife. He has been a fifth grade teacher, but something has happened. So after the funeral, he hails a cab for his father's old friend and goes off with him, giving credence to the first-person narrative voice that I find very believable. "I would spend a week under A. N Dyer's roof, which is how I became a witness, the primary witness despite some feuding claims, to everything that happened."And with that he launches into the everything. This is a must-read book.

& Sons is a book that, in our terms, really brings New York to life. From the upmarket apartments on the Upper East and Upper West side, through the literary launch at the Frick, the over the top (and drug fuelled) limo ride across Brooklyn Bridge, the pretzel hunt through Central Park, and the mad romp around the Met... it is all there, the city at its most vivid. This is fiction set in New York, with the location as one of the key characters.It is also a very ambitious (and challenging) work – a work that seeks to put David Gilbert into the category of Great American Novelist. It opens with a rambling eulogy that author, A N Dyer, gives at the funeral of his oldest friend, Charles Topping – and the story goes on to be told through the eyes of Charles’ son, Philip… a somewhat contrived and confusing individual with the gift of being able to move between the personae of the main characters. Other than A N (Andrew) Dyer, the three main male characters (David Gilbert doesn’t really do female..) are his two sons Richard and Jamie, and their much younger step brother, Andy. A N Dyer had written a major novel, Ampersand, at the age of 27 – and had lived off its glory for years afterwards. It had sold 45m copies. & Sons explores the impact this success of their father had upon Richard and Jamie – Richard now a recovered addict living in California, running drug rehabilitation workshops, and playing at being a screenwriter. Jamie a controversial maker of short You Tube documentaries that are in questionable taste. Andy is a teenager focused on getting laid by / with Sophie – a slightly older publishing assistant. Andy was a result (or was he?) of a brief liaison between A N Dyer and a Swedish au pair that brought down his marriage. He befriends Richard’s son, Emmett, and shows him New York. The story is the story of the interaction between the two full brothers – both intense sibling love and rivalry played out in a location that is home to neither of them.The book is extraordinarily well and wittily written, even if some of the sentence and paragraph structures are a little convoluted and hard to follow. David Gilbert has vast literary knowledge and this plays through into many of the references in the book. It is without doubt a BIG book… Whether it quite works at every level, though, I am not sure. The revelations (not to be repeated here..) about Andy’s possible origins throw the whole work into a different – and, to me, slightly confusing - perspective. I was not entirely sure of the relevance or point…All that said, & Sons is absolutely worth the effort and concentration required to read it. And, most importantly in TripFiction terms, the work really does bring New York quite vividly to the reader’s mind - and will be a great read for anyone heading in that direction. David Gilbert was brought up on the Upper East Side. The book is set in his own back yard – and it shows.

I really enjoyed this book. I understand how some people may have not liked it very much as it is not always an easy read. It is a very clever book that requires sticking with, at times I had to go back and reread bits as it does tend to move all over the place. It is extremely funny at times and it does capture something very important about the relationship between father and sons which I found evocative. I highly recommend it especially if you like American writing.

I loved this book. The language is gorgeous, the New York setting vivid and feels true. The use of the fictional book, Ampersand, as the antagonist worked well and is a lovely concept, and David Gilbert is a strong enough writer to pull it off. I can understand criticisms that say it is meandering, but it is beautifully so, and the meandering captures the characters so well. My only criticism would be that the handwriting in the handwritten letters at the start of each chapter is hard to read sometimes!

I bought this because of the rave reviews. Unfortunately I found it to be a pretentious load of twaddle. There were a few funny moments but insufficient to make it worthwhile reading. Very disappointing.

The writing was skilled but the story was unnecessarily complicated and too clever for its own good, so that occasionally I lost patience with it.