''The Lonely Polygamist'' is the third novel written by

Brady Udall Brady Udall is an American writer. In 2010, he was appointed Writer-in-Residence of Idaho, a position he held until 2013. Biography Udall grew up in a large Mormon family in St. Johns, Arizona. He graduated from Brigham Young University and lat ...

. It was published in 2010 by W. W. Norton & Company. According to Udall, after writing a nonfiction piece in 1998 for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' called "Big Love," about modern day polygamy, "there was no question my next novel would be about contemporary polygamy." The novel follows the Richards family, focusing mainly on Golden, who is a

polygamist Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

, and the husband to four wives and father of twenty-eight children.

Reception

The book was generally well received by critics. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' named it the best book of 2010. It was called "a serious contender for

Great American Novel The "Great American Novel" (sometimes abbreviated as GAN) is the term for a Western Canon, canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and Culture of the United States, character of the United States. The term was coined b ...

status" by ''Publishers Weekly''. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' says "Udall's control over his complex plot, and his psychological insight into his characters, are admirable and impressive. But perhaps the most pleasing thing about 'The Lonely Polygamist' is the way it avoids giving in to the prurient interests that could easily have dominated a novel about polygamy."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonely Polygamist, The 2010 American novels Polygyny W. W. Norton & Company books Works about polygamy in Mormonism Mormon fundamentalism in fiction