The Lonely Polygamist -- 9780393339710

This is the first book I've zoomed through in quite a while. I enjoyed parts of it very much. It's a book that reminds the reader that there are at least as many facets to a story as there are people involved (and also just as many ways for things to go awry). 

The Lonely Polygamist is set in a Mormon "plyg" family some time in the 70s in Utah but it is not about polygamy, per se. It merely uses the polygamist life to almost hyperbolize living in a big family and how alone one can feel despite being surrounded by so many others. Each of the characters the narrator zooms in on tries to cope with this loneliness in their own way. 

This book was completely ridiculous at times and completely tragic at other times and completely tragically ridiculous and ridiculously tragic all the other times. What I liked best was the humanity and heart in the book -- no one character was a total saint or a complete villain. They were just people, doing people things. The reader is reminded of this just as soon as they start to think otherwise. 

Brady Udall did a terrific job describing the little things -- the mundane, the awkward, the embarrassingly true. The gum part, while I have never experienced anything like it and can hardly imagine it's a common predicament a man finds himself in, seemed like it actually could happen to your neighbor, and that is exactly how he would deal with it. The noises of the house, the ever-present crowded hum of 28 yellingrunningscreaming children, the description of the "racetrack" and its wear from overuse, the smelly "Barge", all seemed very believable and very relate-able, which made the story almost believable. 

The parts with Rusty were almost written from his point of view and was among the most believable of the characters' sections. There were times when Golden's (esp. w/ the Ted Leo parts toward the end) and Trish's (many parts involving Faye and the other Sister Wives...it's difficult for men to write women well--yes, i know how sexist that statement is, but it's also true) narratives wavered a bit in perspective, but Rusty always sounded like Rusty. 

Most importantly, I giggled, welled up with tears, and screamed "No! Nonono! NO!! Dammit! No!" at various parts beyond my control. Read this book if you're looking for something darkly tragi-comic, entertaining, and quirky, so long as you've got an open mind.