The Hundred Brothers: A Novel - Tapa dura

The Hundred Brothers, Donald Antrim's second novel, is a madcap allegory of family in all its hysteria and glory. Its premise is absurd - and uproariously funny: One hundred brothers, ranging in age from their mid-20s to the oldest, Hiram, who is 93, gather in the family's dilapidated library for an evening meal. The narrator, Doug, is an obsessive amateur genealogist preoccupied with tracing the family history to its origins - possibly and probably an insane monarch. The story takes place from dusk until dawn, from cocktails to postdinner impromptu football practice. Throughout the course of the evening, things get more and more chaotic as brothers are nearly fatally wounded in domestic mishaps, insults are hurled like water balloons, and the library itself falls further and further into disrepair. In the penultimate pages, most of the brothers are out for Doug, whose antics as the ancestral Corn King have instilled in them the desire for ritualistic sacrifice and a taste for blood. Antrim takes you on a ride through an evening where total insanity breaks out. Imagine the Marx Brothers - times twenty-five - performing a Harold Pinter play. The Hundred Brothers is a hilarious and heartbreaking metaphor for the trials, tribulations, joys, and jerkiness of families.

l by the critically acclaimed author of Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World. Doug and 98 of his 99 brothers (George has run off with embezzled funds and a girl named Jane) gather in the huge family library for dinner, drinking, and some late-night football. Throughout the evening, the chaos grows into a complex web of conflicting memories, hurt feelings, rivalries, alliances, and shared awareness. 208 pp. Author tour. National publicity. Print ads. 20,000 print.