First published 1989
Russell Hoban explores the boundary between human and monster in this work of fiction. The narrative examines what makes something monstrous and whether the label applies more to appearance or behavior. Characters confront their own capacity for both cruelty and compassion as they encounter beings that challenge their assumptions about civilization and wildness. The story moves between moments of terror and unexpected tenderness, asking whether monsters are born or made. Hoban crafts a meditation on otherness that refuses simple answers about good and evil.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, horror, monsters, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: monsters, moral-ambiguity
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
32 pages · Hardcover · Orion Children's Books (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )