"The four main characters in Pickle's Progress seem more alive than most of the people we know in real life because their fears and desires are so nakedly exposed. That's because their creator, Marcia Butler, possesses truly scary X-ray vision and intelligence to match." - Richard Russo, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls
Marcia Butler's debut novel, Pickle's Progress, is a fierce, mordant New York story about the twisted path to love.
Over the course of five weeks, identical twin brothers, one wife, a dog, and a bereaved young woman collide with each other to comical and sometimes horrifying effect. Everything is questioned and tested as they jockey for position and try to maintain the status quo. Love is the poison, the antidote, the devil and, ultimately, the hero.
"With detached wit and restrained horror at her characters' behavior, Butler explores the volatile nature of identity in this provocative novel." - Booklist
"In this study of how childhood experiences shape perception, and how deception keeps people caged, Butler shows that nothing need be set in stone." - Kirkus Reviews
"Surprising and audacious... . Pickle's Progress is a deeply weird novel that succeeds because of Butler's willingness to take risks and her considerable charisma - she's a gifted storyteller with a uniquely dry sense of humor and a real sympathy for her characters... a promising fiction debut from a writer who seems incapable of not going her own way." - Michael Schaub, NPR.org
Genre: Literary Fiction
Marcia Butler's debut novel, Pickle's Progress, is a fierce, mordant New York story about the twisted path to love.
Over the course of five weeks, identical twin brothers, one wife, a dog, and a bereaved young woman collide with each other to comical and sometimes horrifying effect. Everything is questioned and tested as they jockey for position and try to maintain the status quo. Love is the poison, the antidote, the devil and, ultimately, the hero.
"With detached wit and restrained horror at her characters' behavior, Butler explores the volatile nature of identity in this provocative novel." - Booklist
"In this study of how childhood experiences shape perception, and how deception keeps people caged, Butler shows that nothing need be set in stone." - Kirkus Reviews
"Surprising and audacious... . Pickle's Progress is a deeply weird novel that succeeds because of Butler's willingness to take risks and her considerable charisma - she's a gifted storyteller with a uniquely dry sense of humor and a real sympathy for her characters... a promising fiction debut from a writer who seems incapable of not going her own way." - Michael Schaub, NPR.org
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"The four main characters in Pickle's Progress seem more alive than most of the people we know in real life because their fears and desires are so nakedly exposed." - Richard Russo
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Used availability for Marcia Butler's Pickle's Progress