The Giant's House is the debut novel of Elizabeth McCracken, first published in 1996. The novel was short-listed for the 1996 National Book Award for Fiction. The novel explores how Peggy Cort, a librarian and "old maid", falls in love with one of her patrons, the world's tallest Man, James Sweatt. [1] [2]
The novel principally reflects on Peggy's exploration of humanity, despite the love story at the center. [2] The Literature, Arts and Medicine Database described the novel as also successful reflecting on the dehumanizing treatment of "freakish" medical conditions. [3]
In general, reception of the novel was mixed. The New York Times gave mixed reviews to the " fractured fairy tale" of the novel, praising the prose where McCraken "unpacks her metaphors with the intensity of a poet", but describing the plot as "melodramatic". [1] The Los Angeles Times, highlighting similar issues, was a bit more positive, writing "True, the story itself is a little short on story. But the premise is so engaging and the narrator so likable one can forgive a kind of slackness in the book's body." [2]
The Guardian wrote that "Sentence for sentence, this book is easily as good as anything by Anne Tyler or Ann Patchett." [4] Kirkus Reviews describes the novel as "A promising idea, ultimately disappointing in execution: McCracken's first novel lacks the one aspect vital to its success- -concern for the lovers." [5]