The Lonely Polygamist

This was another book that did not live up to the premise of its (totally awesome) title. In fact, I found it so boring that I've apparently put off reviewing for two weeks.

What I expected was an exploration of polygamy, emotions, and the idea of being lonely when surrounded by people. Maybe also, being a Jewish woman from the eastern half of the country, and therefore having very little exposure to Mormons and known to FLDS, I have a bizarre fascination with them.

What I got was a quality author acting like he could get away with the most basic of midlife crisis plots by adding a couple extra wives. With four wives and a potential fifth, a mistress, a mob boss, an anarchist bomber and 20-somthing children, you'd think that at least some of the supporting characters would have something in the way of character development. Unfortunately, it was mostly a bumbling, completely unsympathetic putz of a main character and the son cast in his own image with no characterization of the remaining cast.

On the other hand, Udall's use of nuclear experimentation as a foil for interpersonal dynamics worked beautifully (if not a little on the wordplay side of things.)