Secrets of Happiness, by Joan Silber

Written in first person from multiple points of view, the segments of this book have a sameness of tone that fails to differentiate the individuals, regardless of differences in gender, race, or sexuality. Gay Ethan tells of the discovery of his father’s long-tern infidelity and the fallout from it. Mixed race Joe fills in the details of his family’s experience, but never do the two half-brothers meet. Then we jump to Maribel, Rachel, Bud, Tara and back to Ethan. Their tales tell us that families are complicated, relationships are complicated; the irony is that none of them has any clue to the secrets of happiness. It is less a novel and more a series of, very loosely, connected short stories, that seem to be about a bunch of characters in search of a story. It’s like an Altman film and about as satisfying.