The Lonely Polygamist

by Brady Udall

Book Overview

Golden Richards, husband to four wives, father to twenty-eight children, is having the mother of all midlife crises. His construction business is failing, his family has grown into an overpopulated mini-dukedom beset with insurrection and rivalry, and he is done in with grief: due to the accidental death of a daughter and the stillbirth of a son, he has come to doubt the capacity of his own heart. Brady Udall, one of our finest American fiction...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393339718
• ISBN13: 9780393339710
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Human and deep

The main character in this book is a polygamist Mormon with four wives and 28 children. In spite of having such a large family, Richard feels detached and lonely. he is secretly in love with a woman who he sees passing by his site. The situation is complicated but masterly depicted. A wonderful story!

A fascinating look at polygamy

Anyone who likes watching Big Love or enjoys a long, engrossing novel would love The Lonely Polygamist. The story is about a polygamist family with four wives and two dozen children. It is presented from the husband's point of view, his youngest wife's point of view and one child's point of view. I found this bittersweet novel a lot more realistic than Big Love. It isn't necessary to contrive conflicts for a story like this. Throw that many people together and the conflicts come naturally. In addition to the story about the family, there's a fascinating chapter about the nuclear testing in Nevada during the 1950's and the unexpected health effects it had on nearby settlements. Brady Udall is a brilliant writer. I'll definitely be reading more of his stuff.

A big family story, and I mean big!

Golden Richards is a big family man, a very big family man. A polygamist Mormon with four wives and 28 children it is a wondered how he has any time for his floundering construction company (maybe this is why it is struggling?). In spite of his large family, Richard's increasingly finds himself on the outside, detached from his loved ones. With this situation the author masterfully weaves together a dark comedy that made me laugh and cry. Golden has his secrets, a terrible crush on a woman he sees passing his job site: oh yeah, the job site itself is a Nevada cathouse but he tells the family it is a senior center! The family itself is tearing at the seams and Richard's is lost as to what to do. I highly recommend this novel, it is some of the best writing of 2010. For more great fiction do read Misfits Country.

the best read of the year

This is the best book I have read in this (relatively) new year. By turns laugh out loud funny and hearbreakingly sad- its also endlessly creative. Its everything you would want in a piece of fiction- pick it up, read the 1st page, turn the page , read on- before you know it you are completely caught up in the world of Golden, his 4 wives and 28 children. This is a book to read once, tell all your friends about it, read it again. These characters and their story will stay with you for a long long time. The feeling I had while reading it was the feeling I remember having when I read Lonesome Dove for that 1st time. If you are a lover of good fiction- then you are in luck because this is fiction at its finest.