For years, the Hungates and the Harrisons have coexisted peacefully in the suburbs of New York. But when the patriarch of one family dies, the survivors face a stark imperative: adapt or face extinction.

In sixty-three entries and an accompanying website, A Field Guide to the North American Family offers a collaborative portrait of two fictional specimens. Photographers contributed this edition’s lavish illustrations viaafieldguide.com, an ongoing, networked Internet community. Though the novella’s entries can be read straight through, alphabetical headings and cross-referenced design enable readers to move through the narrative as they see fit.

Part fiction, part reference work, part photo-essay, this singular Field Guide invites readers and participants to consider the state of the family--and to explore the future of the book.

Garth Risk Hallberg holds an MFA from New York University. His fiction has been published in Glimmer Train , Canteen , Evergreen Review and h2so4 , and in the anthology Best New American Voices (Harcourt). He is also a regular contributor to The Millions .