Nick Taylor grew up in a strict Mennonite family, served in World War II, worked for an oil company and married Bet who grew up in an upper middle class Irish/American family. They had two children, Katherine, who after college took up with a radical group in the 60’s, and Harry, a dreamer who was interested in ecology. The saga of the Taylor family begins in the 1950’s and ends in 2026. Last House is not only a look at an American family, it also describes the counter culture of the 60’s and the willingness of corporate America to obtain oil at any price.

There are parts of Last House that are descriptive and tense and there are other sections that fall flat. Jessica Shattuck does a fine job of describing the Taylor family in the 50’s, 60’s and 2026 but barely touches on the other decades. For me as a social commentary and family tale, Last House was incomplete.