The maturity of Elizabeth McCracken's 1993 debut collection, Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry?, suggested the arrival of a major new literary talent. Her first novel more than fulfilled this promise. Not only was The Giant's House a finalist for the National Book Award, McCracken was also named one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine.

McCracken subtitled The Giant's House "a romance," and this is true. But her love story is hardly conventional. At twenty-six, Peggy Cort is already an almost comically stereotypical librarian: reserved, orderly, sensible shoes... She takes a very unconventional interest, though, in one of her regulars, a young boy name James Carlson Sweatt. But James is not an ordinary eleven-year-old, and not just because he reads so many good books. He has a very rare disease commonly known as Gigantism. During the decade covered in the book, James grows from being an unusually tall boy into, at eight feet seven inches, the tallest man in the world. Aside from the many physical and emotional difficulties he faces adjusting to both his unwieldy body and unwanted celebrity, James must also struggle to deal with another fact of his disease: gigantism is ultimately fatal. As Peggy comes to realize and eventually acknowledge her feelings for James, their most singular pairing resonates with the loneliness and longing inherent in all human relationships. Farley, Powells.com

Named one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine, Elizabeth McCracken is a writer of fabulous gifts. The Giant's House, her first novel, is an unforgettably tender and quirky novel about the strength of choosing to love in a world that offers no promises, and no guarantees.

The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt — the "over-tall" eleven-year-old boy who's talk of the town — walks into her library and changes her life forever. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for friendship, but nevertheless they find their lives entwined in ways that neither one could have predicted. And as James grows — six foot five at age twelve, then seven feet, then eight — so does Peggy's heart and their most singular romance.

"Reminiscent of such late 20th century treasures as The Accidental Tourist, The World According to Garp, or A Confederacy of Dunces." Denver Post

"Highly recommended...eloquent and hauntingly beautiful...This is a terrific novel." Library Journal

"Fabulously imagined...exceptional...a writer of unusual gifts...a dark fairy tale of a novel." Detroit Free Press

"Satisfying...Often exquisite...McCracken unpacks metaphors with the intensity of a poet." The New York Times Book Review

"Rare and refreshing...McCracken's sense of character is deeply subversive." Boston Magazine

"Such is the incantatory power of McCracken's eccentric tale that by its close we are completely in the grip of its strangely conceived ardor....I was reminded at various points of Harper Lee, Marjorie Kellogg, Carson McCullers and Walker Percy." Daphne Merkin, The New Yorker

"A true marvel...thoroughly enjoyable from its unlikely beginning to its bittersweet end...McCracken knows all kinds of subtle, enticing secrets of the heart and conveys them in silky, transparent language." San Francisco Chronicle

"This book is my kind of romance — fated and complicated, with a heroine who is as difficult as I could want...a woman who wins you over the the audacity of her obsessions". Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina

The year is 1950. Peggy Cort, a librarian in a small Cape Cod town, is 26 and has begun to fear that she will live her life without ever experiencing love's transforming power. Until she meets James, 11 years old, six foot four, and still growing. Quietly heroic about his predicament, James checks out books on conjuring and gigantism, and they soon find their lives entwined in ways that neither of them could have predicted. In James, Peggy discovers the one person suited to encompass her love, and as he grows — six foot five at age 12, then seven feet, then eight — so does her heart and their most singular romance. This stunning first novel was a finalist for a National Book Award in Fiction in 1996.

The year is 1950 and at 26, librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have passed her by. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt, the "over-tall" 11-year-old boy who's the talk of the town, walks into her library and changes her life forever. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for friendship, but nevertheless they soon find their lives entwined in ways that neither one could have predicted.

Named one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine, Elizabeth McCracken is a writer of fabulous gifts. The Giant's House, her first novel, is an unforgettably tender and quirky novel about the strength of choosing to love in a world that offers no promises, and no guarantees.

The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt--the "over-tall" eleven-year-old boy who's talk of the town-walks into her library and changes her life forever. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for friendship, but nevertheless they find their lives entwined in ways that neither one could have predicted. And as James grows--six foot five at age twelve, then seven feet, then eight--so does Peggy's heart and their most singular romance.Named one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine, Elizabeth McCracken is a writer of fabulous gifts. The Giant's House, her first novel, is an unforgettably tender and quirky novel about the strength of choosing to love in a world that offers no promises, and no guarantees.

The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels like love and life have stood her up. Until the day James Carlson Sweatt--the "over-tall" eleven year-old boy who's talk of the town--walks into her library and changes her life forever. Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for friendship, but nevertheless they find their lives entwined in ways that neither one could have predicted. And as James grows--six foot five at age twelve, then seven feet, then eight--so does Peggy's heart and their most singular romance.

Elizabeth McCracken is the author of the ALA Notable story collection Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry. She has received grants from the Michener Foundation, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and, in 1996, was named one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists by Granta magazine. The Giant's House was a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction. She lives in Massachusetts, where, until recently, she was a full-time librarian. She is now at work on her second novel.