How can you be lonely when you have four wives, twenty-eight children, a devoted dog, and the possibility of a new mistress? Golden Richards, the inept-at-everything title character, manages to feel utterly alone even while surrounded by the chaos that is his life. Told alternately by Golden, Trish, his fourth and youngest wife, and Rusty, his lovably aggravating son, The Lonely Polygamist is funny and heartbreaking, richly written by a superb storyteller.

Recommended by Anne