Taking a fundamentally sensational topic beyond the merely salacious
Polygamy seems to be fashionable these days — at least in the realm of popular culture. From HBO series Big Love to the TV movie adaptation of David Ebershoff's 2008 book The 19th Wife and the TLC reality TV show Sister Wives, the polygamist lifestyle has been both romanticized and besmirched for our entertainment. The topic is fundamentally sensational — who among us isn't fascinated by men who get to have sex with lots of women in the name of religion? But Brady Udall's fantastic, epic novel about a clumsy and emotionally unintelligent man with four wives and 28 children is a standout because its aims go beyond the merely salacious. (If you're looking for hot sex scenes, stick to HBO). The Lonely Polygamist focuses on four members of the gargantuan Richards clan, revealing the complicated inner workings of the household and the ways in which everyone fits together — happily or otherwise — in this mutated version of the nuclear family. Udall is a master of finding humor in the mundane while zeroing in on life's more tragic moments, big and small. Referring to Rusty, the troubled, wisecracking pre-adolescent son of wife No. 2, Udall writes, "He was 11 years old and full of a need so large and overwhelming that he wasn't sure exactly what it was he needed." A universal sentiment, regardless of the size of one's family.