The House Of Tomorrow

Peter Bognanni

Multco Central Fiction, 2010

I first saw the 2017 movie adaptation with Ellen Burstyn. Sebastian Prendergast is an orphan raised by his Buckminster Fuller disciple grandmother Josephine (Nana) in a geodesic dome in the hills near North Branch Iowa. Nana has a stroke while divorced mom Janice Whitcomb and her daughter Meredith are visiting for a tour. Sebastian becomes involved in their family, befriends son Jared Whitcomb and forms a punk rock band ("The Rash") with him. Nana paints their geodesic dome as a dymaxion map of the Earth. The finale of the book is their first stage appearance at a youth talent show at the Methodist church where Janice is a part-time youth coordinator.

The movie is different; Alan Whitcomb heads the single-parent family, only a small part of the dome floor is painted, and the Rash makes two appearances, neither at the church. The overall vibe of both is the same.