The "eeww" moment—the realization that your parents have had sex, or worse, that they might not have stopped—is a childhood milestone. For the four Mellow kids in Wolitzer's latest novel, The Position, that moment arrives in 1975 when they discover Pleasuring, a Joy of Sex-type manual for which their parents (Roz and ex-analyst Paul) had served as models. From then on the intimate volume redefines life for the Mellows, as Wolitzer engagingly sketches the family members' attempts at distancing themselves from the book and finding closeness with others. Roz eventually leaves Paul; over time, the kids lose themselves in drugs, "soulless" jobs and parenthood. While most of our eewws aren't as public or polarizing as the Mellows' are, the "aha's" the family encounters are familiar. As this clan learns, the most satisfying position is a permanent-ink place in someone's heart.
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