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Does anybody know of novels/movies that challenge the default virtue of family? Instead of just making reccommendations as I love to do for you guys, I want to know if there are more than the ones I'm about to tell you guys about that you know of. I've only watched the movie for Precious and later found out it's based on a book, but this story is really emotionally rivetting, very moving, but also quite disturbing. It's about an overweight black teen who gets pregnant and has to learn how to survive in the ghetto amidst her unplanned motherhood. For those of you who don't care for spoilers and still like watching or reading despite of having that knowledge: I don't mind minor spoilers, I'll still watch or read to see how it gets there, but if there's something big(like Fight Club's plot twist), I would prefer to let it be a surprise. Then there's Island Girl, which you can read an excerpt here if you'd like, written by my own college professor. I think I must have read this book about 2-3 times by now. It's about a self proclaimed juniour-senior named Ruby, who is diagnosed with early onset alzeihmer's, and lives in a house that her grandparents built on Ward's Island off the coast of Toronto. She has two daughters named Liz and Grace. Grace lives with Ruby, has a mild retardation and is also under arrest, while Liz is an alcoholic who used to be a lawyer and also lives on her own in downtown Toronto. Basically, Ruby is afraid that once her mind goes, she fears that Grace would be unable to keep the family home that doubles as their family business (they run a salon together), and her deepest desire is that Liz sobers up and comes home to take care of her and take over the owneship over the house. This is the first book I read that challenged the default virtue of family because although Ruby is stricken with a horrible disease, she hasn't been a very good mother, so Liz is reluctant to really give a shit. It's a fascinating read, it's written in all three of their perspectives, their voices are very distinct, and each of their own sublots provide a ton of variety to the story. Having this multiciplicty of perspectives to see the story through makes for a heightened sense of empathy as you begin to understand each woman's motivations and how if the others only knew how one of them felt and thought, things would just work out for the better. Not to mention it is also hilarious at times despite the amount of feels it'll provide lol. I highly suggest you order it or download the e-book. I believe there needs to be more novels like this that are written in such a clever and genuine style that PUNCHES YOU IN THE SOUL!!! Anyways, got any of your own recommendations? I feel like FDR is a goldmine of sharing stuff, I've certainly become a big fan of a few things people have recommended to me like the work of John Bradshaw or a variety of podcast series based on writing.