The Miniature Wife by Manuel Gonzales
An exuberantly conceived debut, in the vein of George Saunders and Aimee Bender, describes an unremarkable world dotted with strange occurrences.
The 18 tales in Manuel Gonzales’ thrilling debut collection make the fantastic regular and the mundane remarkable in prose that throbs with life and glistens with beauty. One of the greatest composers in the world is introduced in “The Artist’s Voice”; he communicates through his ears. In “Pilot, Copilot, Writer,” a hijacked jet circles a city for twenty years. In “The Sounds of Early Morning,” sound can be fatal. The title story also features a husband at odds with the wife he unintentionally shrank. The phenomenal isn’t always unusual for these folks, but it’s frequently risky.
Gonzales depicts the intense yearning for self-redefinition, the very real remorse over tiny and significant marital mistakes, and the strong urges we have to protect and provide for the ones we love in slightly fanciful surroundings. These tales encourage us to see things differently by upending our expectations with humour and wisdom. The Miniature Wife is a ground-breaking debut that is brilliantly conceived, startlingly unique, and told with the natural storytelling instinct of a born storyteller.
The Miniature Wife by Manuel Gonzales
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Texas-born author Manuel Gonzales spent a significant amount of time living in Austin. Although he is a very literary author, he uses science fiction and fantasy elements because of their narrative worth.
Overall, this is a fascinating collection of odd and unique tales. The majority are written in the first person, which makes it simple for the reader to immerse themselves in each peculiar event. These tales are what I would call “fantastical,” The stories are always told with a sense of confused humour. The first-person narrator conveys a matter-of-fact tone by treating the “impossible” as factual and acceptable in the story.
The Miniature Wife has a variety of different types of stories. In the title story, a man accidentally shrinks his wife while conducting scientific experiments. Unable to undo the damage, a guy mistakenly shrinks his wife to doll size. He makes a doll house for her to reside in an effort to make accommodations for her. The situation is not good. Their bond undergoes a profound transformation. So it continues. Both horrifying and humorous.
