"Model Home" by Eric Puchner has been on my "to read" list for years, and I finally got around to it. I'm glad I did, it was a quick read and darkly humorous. Warren Ziller moved his family to Southern California from Wisconsin in the mid 1980s, and they're living above their means in a private, gated community. Warren has lost all their money in an investment scheme gone bad, and he's dreading telling his family. He finally does, and then a terrible accident nearly kills his oldest boy, Dustin. Dustin is left badly disfigured and in need of constant care, while the Zillers' home is destroyed. They move out to the desert into one of Warren's failed model homes by a toxic dump, and what was left of their family quickly unravels. Bad luck and bad choices seem to plague the Zillers no matter how hard they try. But there were glimmers of hope throughout that kept the book from being a complete downer.
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