New World Monkeys: A Novel (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
After reading about this in a 2009 issue of Writer's Digest magazine, I was lured in by the quirky premise: but thanks to my heavy reading schedule, I missed the original hardcover release. The trade edition came out this past September, and I'm glad I finally had the chance to check out Mauro's highly-praised debut novel.Duncan and Lily have been married 5 years. Already on the verge of separation, Lily decides to spend the summer at an inherited Victorian home in the small upstate town of Osterhagen in order to work on her dissertation. Duncan--recently put in charge of a make-him or break-him ad campaign--plans to visit on the weekends but remain in the city during the week to get the job done.The tale takes a strange turn right from the get-go when our couple run over a wild boar on their ride upstate. Stuck under the front of their Saab, Lily puts the boar out of its misery with a tire iron when Duncan hesitates to do so. They place the animal in a nearby ditch, and shortly after settling in the new home they learn the boar ws actually the town's mascot...and that it has a jealous owner.While Duncan puts together a controversial ad campaign in the city (he attempts to sell blue jeans using a Vietnam theme and two porn-looking asian models), Lily begins her studies at the Osterhagen library, only to be distracted by a peeping Tom named Lloyd. Fascinated by his techniques, she actually befriends him and begins to join him on excursions. The relationship between these two is the highlight of the novel.Duncan's growing paranoia about his wife deepens when he attempts to start a gardening project in their new backyard, only to unearth human bones they learn belonged to Lily's great grandfather's nanny: the couple become obsessed with pieceing together the skeleton as well as the story behind it: all the while they're trying to keep their secret of killing the boar under cover, the boar's owner's annoying poodle starts to show up in their back yard, digging around their bone find. Eventually, Duncan takes care of the poodle in an attempt to make up for his mishandling of the boar situation.With some serious small-town tension that brings several classic horror stories to mind, nearly endless dark and sarcastic humor, and three of the richest characters I've had the pleasure of reading in many moons, NEW WORLD MONKEYS is a love story that's anything but sappy; Mauro cleverly uses odd relationships, unusual situations, and rich symbolism (as well as Lily's past) to study a couple on an uncertain course. The final chapter is a surreal, beautiful end note that had me longing for more.Even if literary novels aren't your thing, NEW WORLD MONKEYS is a best bet if you're seeking something truly out of the ordinary. I'll most certainly be reading this one again. Marriage to someone you do not like is torture. So much torture that if you write about it and it becomes published and someone like me who reads the jacket will check it out, spend the whole night reading it and feel like she/he has been through the whole tortuous ordeal themselves. Well written in that it kept me up longer than I should have been finishing it but too well written that it made me wish that one of the characters would just break, call it quits so I could feel some sort of satisfaction. I enjoyed the side stories, but I found myself wondering what reality it was set in? It irked me. I'm still mad I stayed up so late reading it. The writing was beautiful though. The idea for a blue jean ad campaign... not so much.
What do You think about New World Monkeys: A Novel (2009)?
The bizarreness of the situations created add some interest to an otherwise dull relationship story.
—aria
This book reminded me to the Rabbit Angstom series by Updike
—Juhee
Pretentious and disappointing but still funny
—lisssy
