The Man of Middling Height
Summary
What if society’s deepest prejudices were based not on gender, but on height? In The Man of Middling Height, Jordanian author Fadi Zaghmout imagines an alternative world divided between two groups: tall people and short people. Height determines social status, personal freedom, romantic possibilities, and the roles individuals are expected to perform. Those who fall outside this rigid binary face exclusion and discrimination.
The story follows a short dressmaker whose life changes when she meets Tallan, a man of middling height who occupies an uncomfortable position in a society that recognizes only two categories. As their forbidden romance develops, they must confront the social rules that dictate whom they can love and how they are permitted to live. Other characters challenge these conventions in different ways, revealing the contradictions and injustices underpinning their world.
Through speculative fiction and biting social satire, Zaghmout examines how societies construct hierarchies and use arbitrary differences to justify inequality. By transforming familiar debates about gender, sexuality, and power into a story about height, he invites readers to question the assumptions that shape their own understanding of identity and belonging.
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- Published
- 2025
- Author
- Fadi Zaghmout