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Halle Butler
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Banal Nightmare Paperback – July 11, 2024

by Butler Halle (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    RANDOM HOUSE US
  3. Publication date
    July 11, 2024
  4. Dimensions
    5.49 x 0.86 x 8.2 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0593733835
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0593733837
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ RANDOM HOUSE US; International Edition (July 11, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593733835
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593733837
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.49 x 0.86 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

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Halle Butler

Halle Butler

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
5 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

kathleen g
4.0 out of 5 stars lots of unhappiness
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2024
Butler has amped up her examination of life in your 30s in this novel about Moddie, who has moved from Chicago to her home town and still isn't happy. In fact, I don't think anyone is happy in this novel that hovers over Moddie and her friends, Bad marriages, money troubles, frustrating jobs and the rest dog this group. This is redeemed by Moddie's smart mouth and astute observations, Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. While I found it a bit tiresome (which might be the point in spots), I'm sure others will identify.
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Stevie
3.0 out of 5 stars Lacerating Humor
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2024
Aspiring artist Margaret Anne “Moddie” Yance has returned to the midwestern college town of X to re-engage with the friends of her youth after a stressful decade in Chicago living with Nick, a man she now believes to be “a megalomaniac or perhaps a covert narcissist.” Staying with Nick was a “recipe for a dull and boring life” as Moddie “did all of the laundry, cooked all of the meals, took out the trash, cleaned, shopped, paid the bills, all of it, he did none of it, she did all of it, holy god for ten years all of it.” Moddie returns to X, but after the initial enthusiasm from old friends Nina and Pam, they were now rarely free to socialize. leaving Moddie alone with her thoughts. “The worse parts of Chicago had followed her here, because the worst parts of Chicago had been inside her.”

Butler ping pongs among the perspectives of her various characters, but each is judgmental of the others while lacking standing because they are all so miserable. Everyone in the college-town group is dissatisfied with their careers and their relationships and their friends (even something as banal as Target is not immune from the scathing criticism). Butler’s novel is bleak, depressing, but brutally honest. Some scenes are so painfully accurate that they made me laugh out loud, like a solo Moddie at a cocktail party trying, unsuccessfully, to wedge her way into various conversations with her unfiltered and strident opinions. I suspect that this will be a polarizing novel but, while cringeworthy, it is also very funny. Thank you Random House and Net Galley for an advance copy of this scathing satire.
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