Trixie is an ex-beauty queen housewife who decides to buy a gun and use it. Ezra is the son who begins an affair with his employer's daughter. Mitzie, the daughter, has a disorder that causes her voice to screech alarmingly. Rounding out the bunch is Dilworth, the golfer-step dad, who worries that Ezra will turn out gay like his real father.
They're just your average dysfunctional American family.
Julianna Baggott recently published her debut novel, \Girl Talk,"" which became a bestseller and earned the praise of critics around the United States. ""The Miss America Family,"" her second novel, dives again into the messy relationships that make up a family.
The story is told from the alternating points of view of Trixie and Ezra, which makes for an interesting contrast of their outlooks on life and innermost thoughts. Baggott's writing style is vivid and flowing, and the many eccentric details she includes provide the perfect basis for visualizing the scenes and characters.
Both Trixie and Ezra start the novel by ""going back to the beginning,"" and lead up to the present chaotic situations of their lives. Trixie has become frustrated with her life, and dark memories from the past convolute her thoughts. Her childhood, including more than one suppressed traumatic occurrence, seeps into her waking life.
Meanwhile, Ezra can sense that his mother is not okay, but has many issues of his own to deal with, such as his first relationship based primarily on sex, his bullying stepfather and the stroke of his grandmother.
However, when a certain gun incident occurs, both lives are thrown even more greatly out of whack. This leads to both new grievances and new realizations.
Ezra's growing up and Trixie's midlife crises are shown to be intricate processes that enlighten them individually and bring them closer together. At times, the characters and situations veer into melodramatic sentimentality.
However, real life is not without these moments. At least Baggott makes for an interesting read. While perhaps not the tale of the century, ""The Miss America Family"" is a novel that will be read quickly but not quickly forgotten.
