{"product_id":"middle-spoon-9780593835173","title":"Middle Spoon","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eMiddle Spoon\u003c\/i\u003e subverts the ordinary novel with intelligence and vulnerability. . . . Varela has made a sly, analytical opera of the heart.\" --Andrew Sean Greer, author of \u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLess Is Lost\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A rollicking delight! . . . Varela asks provocative questions about the shape of family and the nature of love.\" --Ada Calhoun, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eCrush\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eTODAY\u003c\/i\u003e's 50 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2025 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA whipsmart, blazingly funny novel about heartbreak, unconventional love, and the way society could be, from National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe narrator of \u003ci\u003eMiddle Spoon\u003c\/i\u003e appears to be living the dream: He has a doting husband, two precocious children, all the comforts of a quiet bourgeois life--and a sexy younger boyfriend to accompany him to farmers markets and cocktail parties. But when his boyfriend abruptly dumps him, he spirals into heartbreak for the first time and must confront a world still struggling to understand polyamorous relationships. Faced with the judgment of friends and the sting of rejection, he's left to wonder if sharing a life with both his family and his lover could ever truly be possible. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith a big heart and just the right dose of the anxieties that define the modern era, \u003ci\u003eMiddle Spoon\u003c\/i\u003e skewers the unspoken rules we still live by--from taboos around intimacy to the shortcomings of Oscar season, pop culture, and gluten-free food--offering a surprising perspective on love, loss, and reinvention. Equal parts heart-wrenching and uproariously funny, \u003ci\u003eMiddle Spoon \u003c\/i\u003eis for anyone who has longed, nursed a broken heart, or grappled with love at its messiest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlejandro Varela\u003c\/b\u003e's (he\/him) debut novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Town of Babylon\u003c\/i\u003e, was a finalist for the National Book Award. His short story collection, \u003ci\u003eThe People Who Report More Stress\u003c\/i\u003e, was one of \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e's best works of fiction in 2023, a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, and longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, The Story Prize, and the PEN\/Jean Stein Book Award. Varela, who is based in New York, is an editor-at-large of \u003ci\u003eApogee Journal\u003c\/i\u003e and holds a master's in public health from the University of Washington.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Viking","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51589911904530,"sku":"9780593835173","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3a8808af-2b9f-4ce8-98b5-542c98438cb1.jpg?v=1756813927","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/middle-spoon-9780593835173","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}