Within the first two pages of The Family Law I was laughing out loud and reading passages out to explain my non-standard reading behaviour. This was repeated many, many times over the course of Ben Law’s debut as I made my way through his series of vignettes of life as one of the Laws. For those not familiar with Law’s work, he’s a freelance writer for many magazines—possibly best known for his work in Frankie. He grew up as one of five children raised on the Sunshine Coast where his parents settled after emigrating from Hong Kong. He’s also gay. These three factors—big family, immigrant background, homosexuality—are the common threads that run through his stories. They could make for a po-faced book, but this title is anything but. It’s a rollicking series of insights into the life of a pretty awesome family. The Family Law is unflinchingly graphic and Law’s language runs pretty blue at times, so this won’t be for your more easily offended reader. However, for those who love their writing fresh, fun and packed with laughs, it’s perfect.
Eliza Metcalfe is a freelance writer and editor and former assistant editor of Bookseller+Publisher magazine. This review first appeared in the May/June 2010 issue of Bookseller+Publisher. You can read the April 2010 issue online here.
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Tags: Ben Law, Black Inc., book review, debut, Frankie magazine, memoir, nonfiction, The Family Law
