The Rabbit Hutch: A Novel (National Book Award Winner)

Product Information

In her acceptance speech, Gunty cited recent comments made by poetry nominee Sharon Olds about literature's essential role in society. Gunty called books a path to calling attention to those "neglected" and otherwise not visible.

Just as she did that year, Gunty still spends most of her time around the Silver Lake Reservoir, walking along its edges or sitting in the meadow, reading and sketching ideas until either it’s too hot or she’s starving.The Rabbit Hutchfollows a series of characters endowed with idiosyncrasies as bizarre as they are fascinating. . . . As with the best polyphonic novels, the town of Vacca Vale becomes a character in and of itself—its deterioration takes turns mirroring or standing in sharp contrast to the psychologies of Gunty’s characters.” — Annabel Graham, Bomb

the fictional characters are unique —grumpy- obsessed -pessimistic - vulnerable - violent- extreme- flawed -lonely - isolated - powerful - powerless …..deeply struggling - The realm of imagination and exploration in these stories made me think of David Foster Wallace — whose dense work included a look at the darkness of American culture. Italie, Hillel (November 16, 2022). "Tess Gunty, Imani Perry Among National Book Awards Winners". Bloomberg . Retrieved November 17, 2022. I just started reading Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert. Her beat is environmental catastrophe, so it’s actually terrible bedtime reading. And then I have a collection of poems by an indigenous New Zealand author, Tayi Tibble, called Poūkahangatus. I’ve read a few and they’re dazzling. For fiction, I just started reading The Taiga Syndrome, which is by Cristina Rivera Garza. It’s kind of a detective novella, but so far more of a meditation on discovery itself. It’s really good. Anderson, Hephzibah (July 16, 2022). "Tess Gunty: 'I was an almost freakishly devout child' ". the Guardian . Retrieved October 26, 2022.

Author Q&A

A first novel of uncommon power . . . A character-driven marvel . . . This is fiction that feels completely new while also pulling together dark impulses and base instincts that are familiar to every one of us. Gunty is doing a lot, and it’s all working. The Rabbit Hutchis a singular and piercing story.” —Heather Scott Partington, Alta