{"product_id":"banal-nightmare-9780593730355","title":"Banal Nightmare","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \"vividly, chillingly current\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e) novel by the author of \u003ci\u003eThe New Me\u003c\/i\u003e, one of the boldest voices in American fiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[Halle Butler's] talent lies in depicting how these sore winners \u003ci\u003ethink, \u003c\/i\u003eand the quiet madness that comes from measuring every interaction in your life by what might be gained in power and status. . . . [\u003ci\u003eBanal Nightmare \u003c\/i\u003eis] her most accomplished novel.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"So funny, so smart, utterly vicious--just brilliant.\"--Zadie Smith \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Butler has crafted a novel in which every character proves to be completely, uniquely crazy. Her perverse sense of humor should be studied and celebrated.\"--David Sedaris \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a Midwestern college town at the height of the Me Too era, a group of simultaneously self-flagellating and self-aggrandizing pseudo-academics sit around, think, and send one another insulting emails. As the impulses and memories they have barely managed to repress begin to surface, their relationships become increasingly deranged. \u003ci\u003eBanal Nightmare \u003c\/i\u003ecaptures the volatile, surreal, and entirely disorienting atmosphere of the modern era.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHalle Butler\u003c\/b\u003e's first novel, \u003ci\u003eJillian, \u003c\/i\u003e was called the \"feel-bad book of the year\" by the \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e. Her second novel, \u003ci\u003eThe New Me, \u003c\/i\u003ewas named a Best Book of the Decade by \u003ci\u003eVox\u003c\/i\u003e and a Best Book of the Year by \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair, Vulture, \u003c\/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune, Mashable, Bustle, \u003c\/i\u003e and NPR, and the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e called it a \"definitive work of millennial literature.\" She was named one of \u003ci\u003eGranta\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Young American Novelists and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50697111372050,"sku":"9780593730355","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4f6c8b0d-b520-4cb3-aa68-37b39afe8cd4.jpg?v=1755851971","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/banal-nightmare-9780593730355","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}