Book Review: Monster in the Middle (OT)(vertical families, marrying a family)

Monster in the Middle, by Tiphanie Yanique (Riverhead Books, 2021, 267 pp, $27)

Writing Style

This reviewer has never, in nearly 20 years, opened a review with comments about the author's writing style. Usually I spend a lot of words and sentences on the subject or plot, and reserve only a few sentences at the end for the author's style. 

I love the sentences in Monster in the Middle! They are short and varied - their length lends itself to lyricism and smoothness, a difficult way to write: even this review has compound and complex sentences. Obviously author Tiphanie Yanique, a college professor, has spent much time crafting her sentences that flow into each other. Or, maybe it is just her unique writing style. Regardless, you have to experience this!

What's it All About?

Besides a unique style, Monster has a unique plot to tell. The premise is that one does not marry a person but a family. The family has fine-tuned the person and resides within the person. We know this, of course, with visits from in-laws on holidays, with phone calls to nieces and nephews on their birthdays - and to grandparents - and from grandparents to our children. And we see it along the route of a marriage, as, with time, little quirks come out in our spouse that surprise us. We thought we knew him but life turns out differently.

A family is not only horizontal but also vertical. The 'horizontalness' refers to the extended family across neighborhood and cities and even countries while all families are vertical in that we come from our grandparents and our parents and hand on to the next generation. 

Race. Gender. Ethnicity. We are all of these.

We often find a map or two in a non-fiction book, but how many novels showcase a map in the first few pages, other than Monster? Your first clue to a unique storyteller's work of art. And this map highlights Alaska and the Virgin Islands and Guam as well as about a dozen US cities with dates. And with descriptions that tweak your interest: Map of an American Love Story - Denver, 2013, Way up there in the middle; Austin, 1989, Have to stop somewhere; Ft. Jackson, 1993, Because, well, manhood. (The author couldn't fit Africa in.)

The Cover Says it All

I have to spend a few words on a book's illustrations and cover, especially award-winning books such as this one. Monster's cover is one that appears best without the title and author's name. Then its meaning is more easily seen. (P.S. if you don't 'get' it, send me an email!)

So, What's It All About?

Two disparate people get married. Different races, different occupations, different home places. These make the two characters and their stories actually begin when their parents are young so a vertical history is revealed. 

So, now you know the gist. 

So, Was It a Good Book?

I hesitate saying this but it was a long difficult read and I read it quickly to get it over with. There is basically no action, no plot, even with excellent reviews. Nothing happens. The reader keeps waiting. It is, however, possibly a character study lending itself to discussions of our grandparents and our parents and how they grew up as well as discussions of great sentences and paragraphs. But, all in all, it is a short book that takes a long time to read: also, easy to forget. (And part is X-rated.)