Perfect Little World
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
"Stellar . . . Compelling . . . Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels." Booklist
When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she's fresh out of high school, pregnant with her art teacher's baby, and totally on her own. Izzy knows she can be a good mother but without any money or relatives to help, she's left searching.
Dr. Grind, an awkwardly charming child psychologist, has spent his life studying family, even after tragedy struck his own. Now, with the help of an eccentric billionaire, he has the chance to create a "perfect little world"-to study what would happen when ten children are raised collectively, without knowing who their biological parents are. He calls it The Infinite Family Project and he wants Izzy and her son to join.
This attempt at a utopian ideal starts off promising, but soon the gentle equilibrium among the families disintegrates: unspoken resentments between the couples begin to fester; the project's funding becomes tenuous; and Izzy's growing feelings for Dr. Grind make her question her participation in this strange experiment in the first place.
Written with the same compassion and charm that won over legions of readers with The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson shows us with grace and humor that the best families are the ones we make for ourselves.
PRAISE FOR KEVIN WILSON
"Wilson's novel is, more than anything else, a comment on social construct. On top of looking at outward factors to blame, this novel also asks us to look inward.. Wilson's intriguing, dystopian world leaves us with one moral that rings true for all families: whether created or born into - they are never perfect, but they are everything." The National Post
"The author of The Family Fang invents another unusual family structure for his sweet and thoroughly satisfying second novel...Wilson grounds his premise in credible human motivations and behavior, resulting in a memorable cast of characters. He uses his intriguing premise to explore the meaning of family and the limits of rational decision making." Publisher's Weekly
"Like an animated Edward Gorey cartoon, with a more realistic contemporary setting and a warmer, lighter touch ... Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone with a soupcon of unexpected spice." Washington Post
"Persistently compassionate. . . . Wilson's best moments are funny and earnest . . . crisp language and smart plotting make Perfect Little World immensely likable and absolutely enjoyable." GQ
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The author of The Family Fang invents another unusual family structure for his sweet and thoroughly satisfying second novel. When bright high school senior Izzy Poole, whose mother has died and whose alcoholic father ignores her, discovers that she is pregnant by the art teacher at her Tennessee school, her choices are limited, especially after the teacher commits suicide. So when she is approached by idealistic child psychologist Dr. Preston Grind to join an experiment in communal child raising funded by the billionaire heiress to a retail store fortune, she somewhat reluctantly takes up the offer. The idea is that Izzy and nine other couples, all pregnant at the same time, will raise their kids in common in the Infinite Family Project for 10 years, to see if that situation aids the children's emotional and intellectual development. The children thrive; the adults, not so much. Wilson keeps his eye on the grown-ups, particularly Izzy and Preston, as rifts begin to form in the carefully planned and maintained structure. Wilson grounds his premise in credible human motivations and behavior, resulting in a memorable cast of characters. He uses his intriguing premise to explore the meaning of family and the limits of rational decision making.
