[1] Other Electricities is based on experiences Monson had as a child growing up on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The novel focuses on the characters and their interactions with one another in a small town in Upper Michigan.

Much of the book revolves around the central character "Yr Protagonist" and his interactions with his friends and family.

The opening chapter describes a police officer alerting the family of Liz, Yr's girlfriend, being killed in a snowmobile crash in a frozen river, which is the basis of much of the novel.

In an early draft of the novel, headers and gutter space featured text that interacted with page numbers.