Failure to Zigzag

by Jane Vandenburgh

Book Overview

It's southern California in the early Sixties, and Charlotte is a teenager, which is bad enough. She also has strange grandparents, with whom she lives, a schizophrenic ventriloquist alcoholic mother... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865473560
• ISBN13: 9780865473560
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: North Point Press
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Schizophrenic Mother and Her Daughter - A GREAT Book

This is one of the BEST, most beautiful and real books that I have ever read. I plan to re-read this book every few years, something I do with very few books. Katrinka, a schizophrenic mom, and her daughter Charlotte, make for a deeply connected magnetic pair. They have both the magnetic pull and push. The language of schizophrenia is caught in its most sublime and poetic manner. Vandenburgh catches both the humor and despair of Katrinka. The grandparents, Lionel and Winnie, are portrayed an mean-spirited and almost evil at times, yet they try. The fate of family interconnectedness is always present. Charlotte seeks to find out the truth about her father's 'disappearance' prior to her birth. Katrinka can remember the order of the clothing she put in the wash twenty years ago yet can not remember the chronology of significant events. The mentally ill are portrayed with respect and compassion and in a very real way. This is an amazingly wonderful book.

An amazing read...

I though this book was amazing. It is one of my favorite stories of all time. The entangled story of Charlotte, her mother, and the family is truly intriguing. I had the honor to have Jane as a creative writing teacher at George Washington University. Her depth as a person and an author is shown in this book wholeheartedly. I would recommend it to anyone who did not grow up "the perfect American life," which pretty much applies to everyone. Buy it, Read it, Love it!

a story that should be heard

Jane Vandenburgh's novel, "Failure to ZigZag" has been a rare novel that falls into the-why have I not met another living sole out there who has read this book-catagory. For the past eight years I have been eagerly awaiting another book by this amazing author. However, she has yet to publish another novel. This particular novel is perhaps one of the most wonderful stories I have ever read about a longing that many of us share; namely,to still try to unconditionally love those who continually engage in self-destructive behaviors.