'Paleontological Institute at The University of Kansas'
Abstract
We Benefit from That is a novel in stories about one suburban family. The father, Tony, divorced with two kids, meets Elaine at a support group for children of alcoholics, and marries her. Together Tony, Elaine, and the kids work to build their new family as a cohesive unit. The family, a group of fractured individuals, attempts to identify normalcy and how they can carve their way toward it. To this end, they seek out religious faith, which serves at times as a solution and also as a new source of individual questioning and division among them. We Benefit from That is about what it means to live in a family, about the resulting disappointments and failures, and the whole-hearted efforts behind those attempts
