A Monster’s Notes
Author: Laurie Sheck
Publisher: Knopf
Price: $37 (Hardcover)
Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet Laurie Sheck reimagines Frankenstein’s monster, in his own words, with her first novel, A Monster’s Notes. Blending historical fact with plenty of creative fiction, Sheck describes how Frankenstein author Mary Shelley actually met the monster when she was just a girl, sitting near her mother’s grave. From there, Sheck uses an experimental narrative style to explore themes of isolation and aesthetic through imaginary letters written by Shelley and the monster’s reflection on his own existence. The monster ruminates on everything from leprosy to the piano prowess of composter John Cage in this account of a once-voiceless creation.
