From a Drew Rowsome blog review of the book, The Desperates
http://drewrowsome.blogspot.com/2014...itch-greg.html
The mother notes that Chatelaine is her favourite magazine, "It's for the more sophisticated woman," and we immediately know exactly who she is. Edmund's decorating and fashion choices speak volumes while Joel and Binny's sexual and musical -
Christine McVie over "goat lady" Stevie Nicks - explicate exactly who they are. Of course the mother does also lapse into one-liner drag speak - "Do you like my wig? Do I look like Ann-Margaret or a dying clown?" - but by then she is family and we indulge her.