In Charles Baxter’s seventh novel “Blood Test: A Comedy,” the Minneapolis native conjures a Midwestern family in crisis, starting with the protagonist Brock Hobson, an insurance salesman, Sunday school teacher, and a divorcé. Through Baxter’s narrative, we meet his two children (three if you count his daughter’s boyfriend) and near-perfect girlfriend, Trey. We also learn about his ex-wife Cheryl, who leaves him for the slothful subcontractor Burt because Brock is “boring.”
Enter Generomics, a company comprised of ex-Ivy Leaguers that offers a blood test predicting future behavior. Brock agrees to the test, and he is surprised with the results when Generomics calculates that Brock will become a murderer.
Baxter creates an episode in which a character slips on a banana peel, creating a major tension in the book.
Sandwiched between hilarious scenes is Brock’s love for his family and his display of sympathy for his ex-wife and her ne’er-do-well boyfriend. The coda is inventive just like the countless laugh-out-loud moments in this imaginative book.