Family Pictures (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

David and Elaine Eberhardt were willing to “do their duty” and contribute three consumption units to the postwar baby boom: Lydia, Macklin, and Randall. At which point, David would continue his career as a psychiatrist and Elaine would keep house, cheer at Little League games, sew costumes for dance recitals, and perform various supportive functions. The norm was altered, however, when Randall was diagnosed as autistic--a situation which resulted in the birth of Nina, Mary, and Sarah.

These “unexpected guests,” as David Eberhardt is wont to call them, confer an additional element of distinction on the Eberhardt family. The three younger children also introduced an aspect into the family life which ultimately causes David to abandon his family for a period of time. Unfortunately for several members of the group, however, David does not remain separated from his wife and children. In fact, no sooner have they developed a style of life which allows them to function efficiently on their own than he returns, inaugurating a series of events which prove destructive to everyone--particularly Macklin and Nina.

This history of the Eberhardt family covers some forty years, from Imperial America to the post-Vietnam retreat and the subsequent revival. The reader is presented with a perceptive and often painful examination of the postwar American family through the eyes of David, Elaine, Macklin, and Nina--the latter the family “historian.”

The Eberhardt family is atypical in several respects, but the experiences, catastrophes, and insights presented here are applicable to anyone who came of age during the period. This is a story of “baby boomers” and those who produced them. Sue Miller has an ear for realistic dialogue and a positive genius in presenting Everyman and Everywoman in a candid and believable manner. The Eberhardt family lived next door in the years between World War II and Vietnam. In fact, more than a few readers will recognize people they saw at the breakfast table every morning. FAMILY PICTURES is a quiet and gentle work, but all the more impressive in its understated fashion.

Sources for Further Study

Chicago Tribune. April 22, 1990, XIV, p.1.

The Christian Century. CVII, June 13, 1990, p.587.

Commonweal. CXVII, October 12, 1990, p.589.

Library Journal. CXV, April 15, 1990, p.124.

Los Angeles Times. May 4, 1990, p. ElO.

The New York Review of Books. XXXVII, August 16, 1990, p.22.

The New York Times Book Review. XCV, April 22, 1990, p.1.

Newsweek. CXV, April 30, 1990, p.70.

Publishers Weekly. CCXXXVII, February 23, 1990, p.206.

Time. CXXXV, June 25, 1990, p.72.

The Wall Street Journal. May22, 1990, p. A18.