Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
In the tradition of George Saunders and Aimee Bender, an exuberantly imagined debut that chronicles an ordinary world marked by unusual phenomena. The eighteen stories of Manuel Gonzales’s exhilarating first book render the fantastic commonplace and the ordinary extraordinary, in prose that thrums with energy and shimmers with beauty. In “The Artist’s Voice” we meet one of the world’s foremost composers, a man who speaks through his ears. A hijacked plane circles a city for twenty years in “Pilot, Copilot, Writer.” Sound can kill in “The Sounds of Early Morning.” And, in the title story, a man is at war with the wife he accidentally shrank. For these characters, the phenomenal isn’t necessarily special—but it’s often dangerous. In slightly fantastical settings, Gonzales illustrates very real guilt over small and large marital missteps, the intense desire for the reinvention of self, and the powerful urges we feel to defend and provide for the people we love. With wit and insight, these stories subvert our expectations and challenge us to look at our surroundings with fresh eyes. Brilliantly conceived, strikingly original, and told with the narrative instinct of a born storyteller, The Miniature Wife is an unforgettable debut.
Is The Miniature Wife appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This literary short story collection blends magical realism with domestic situations, exploring marital conflict and existential themes through surreal scenarios. Contains mild adult themes and moderate language appropriate for mature teens and adults.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, mild sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include marital conflict.
Who'll love this
Adult readers will appreciate the clever, imaginative stories that make everyday struggles feel fresh and strange.