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THE MAN OF MIDDLING HEIGHT
By: Fadi Zaghmout
Middle East Literature In Translation
Syracuse University Press
August 2025
On Sale: August 15, 2025
230 pages
ISBN: 0815611854
EAN: 9780815611851
Trade Paperback
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Fiction Literary | LGBTQ | Romance
What if our society's deepest prejudices weren't about race, gender, or sexuality-but height? In his groundbreaking allegorical novel, acclaimed Jordanian author and activist Fadi Zaghmout imagines just such a world, crafting a powerful meditation on discrimination and desire that speaks directly to our contemporary debates about identity and inclusion. The Man of Middling Height follows a short dressmaker whose life is upended when she meets Tallan, a man whose middle height places him outside the rigid tall/short binary that governs their society. As their forbidden romance blossoms, they must navigate a world where height determines everything from social status to romantic possibilities. Through their story and those of surrounding characters-including a short person in a polyamorous relationship with two tall partners, and a tall activist who scandalously loves another tall person-Zaghmout deftly reframes contemporary discussions about gender identity and sexuality through the lens of height discrimination.
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