From Powells.com
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
Synopses & Reviews
An unusual love story about a little librarian on& #160; & #160; Cape Cod and the tallest boy in the world, & #160; & #160;
The Giant's House is the magical first& #160; & #160; novel from the author of the 1994 ALA Notable& #160; & #160; collection
Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry.
The year is 1950, and in a small town on Cape& #160; & #160; Cod twenty-six-year-old librarian Peggy Cort feels& #160; & #160; like love and life have stood her up. Until the& #160; & #160; day James Carlson Sweatt--the & quot; over tall& quot; & #160; & #160; eleven-year-old boy who's the talk of the& #160; & #160; town--walks into her library and changes her life forever.& #160; & #160; Two misfits whose lonely paths cross at the& #160; & #160; circulation desk, Peggy and James are odd candidates for& #160; & #160; friendship, but nevertheless they soon find their& #160; & #160; lives entwined in ways that neither one could have& #160; & #160; predicted. In James, Peggy discovers the one& #160; & #160; person who's ever really understood her, and as he& #160; & #160; grows--six foot five at age twelve, then seven feet, & #160; & #160; then eight--so does her heart and their most& #160; & #160; singular romance. The Giant's House & #160; & #160; is an unforgettably tender and quirky novel about& #160; & #160; learning to welcome the unexpected miracle, and& #160; & #160; about the strength of choosing to love in a world& #160; & #160; that gives no promises, and no guarantees.
Synopsis
An unusual love story about a little librarian on Cape Cod and the tallest boy in the world,
The Giant's House is the magical first novel from the author of the 1994 ALA Notable collection
Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry.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 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. In James, Peggy discovers the one person who's ever really understood her, and as he grows--six foot five at age twelve, then seven feet, then eight--so does her heart and their most singular romance. The Giant's House is an unforgettably tender and quirky novel about learning to welcome the unexpected miracle, and about the strength of choosing to love in a world that gives no promises, and no guarantees.