A.P. Reviews: The House of Tomorrow
This one only just barely slips in on-topic. I think I’ve mentioned before my almost unhealthy obsession with the nuttery of one R. Buckminster Fuller. His ideas are often patently crazy, but simultaneously inspiring, artistic, and utterly fascinating. He invented the geodesic dome and a whole host of other things, now mostly unused. So when my fabulous colleague told me about a book she saw at the store about a kid living with his grandmother who was obsessed with Fuller, I had to find it. Then I read it. And now I want to tell you what I thought about it, The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni.
Have you ever seen a Matthew Broderick movie from the 80s? This book is exactly like all of them. The main character is Matthew Broderick. You couldn’t make a more cookie-cutter coming of age story without using an actual cookie cutter. The only remotely interesting character is the Fuller-obsessed grandmother who is vastly under-utilized.
In terms of the Bechdel Test, it fails spectacularly. I don’t believe two female characters ever even directly interact in the narrative. Moreover the main character Sebastian’s surrogate family has an absent father. Why is he absent? Because his wife is so intolerable, and it cannot be made more clear that it is, in fact, all her fault! His daughter? The only solution to her problems is the touch of a man, so she’s oh so promiscuous until Matthew Broderick Sebastian, the awkward, nerdy, isolated main character rescues her from her woes. Yuck.
There are some Fuller-related nuggets of goodness, but these are few and far between. Mostly he is used as a soft, friendly surrogate for more harsh realities that keep kids separated from their peers and society at large. I started reading, wanting to geek out over a subject I adore, but wound up connecting in a completely different way. Growing up a Jehovah’s Witness gave me a lot of similar neuroses as Sebastian when he finally started interacting with others. So if nothing else, I can appreciate as fairly unique the book’s message about coming to terms with an upbringing that separates one from what’s immediately present.
Final conclusion? Tepid. It’s a fast, easy read, but almost frustrating in its fullness of unrealized potential. Wouldn’t recommend reading unless you’re in a situation where you need to kill time but are extremely bored and uncomfortable, like if you’re at a Cleveland sporting event or on an airplane, and then I’d wait for the paperback as it’ll travel easier.
Tags: book, R. Buckminster Fuller, review