DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

The Rabbit Hutch

THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NY TIMES BESTSELLER

Tess Gunty author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oneworld Publications

Published:21st Jul '22

Should be back in stock very soon

This hardback is available in other editions too:

The Rabbit Hutch cover

In The Rabbit Hutch, a diverse group of residents navigate life in a struggling Indiana city, revealing the complexities of modern America with humor and heart.

Set in Vacca Vale, Indiana, The Rabbit Hutch offers a darkly humorous and insightful glimpse into the lives of its residents. Recently recognized as one of America's dying cities, Vacca Vale is home to a low-cost housing complex that serves as a microcosm of contemporary challenges. The story revolves around a diverse cast of characters, including an online obituary writer and a woman engaged in a personal battle against rodents. At the heart of this narrative is Blandine, an eighteen-year-old recently released from foster care, who is determined to thwart the developers aiming to gentrify her neighborhood.

The events unfold over a sweltering July week, where the complexities of life, identity, and community are explored through the lens of humor and heartbreak. The Rabbit Hutch captures the essence of a society grappling with its past and present, portraying the resilience and struggles of its characters. The writing is bold and experimental, inviting readers to reflect on the harsh realities of modern America while also finding moments of levity amidst the chaos.

Acclaimed for its inventive storytelling, The Rabbit Hutch has garnered several prestigious awards, including the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction. This debut novel resonates with readers, leaving a lasting impression long after the final page is turned, making it a significant contribution to contemporary literature.

'A firecracker debut. Seriously impressive... The writing is incandescent, the range of styles and voices remarkable... There’s so much dazzling stuff here.'

-- The Sunday Times

'Inventive, heartbreaking and acutely funny.'

-- Observer

'Here is something new, a first novel with the wisdom and tenderness of a masterwork; an unflinching look at the down-and-outs that continue to rise and rise. The Rabbit Hutch is addictive, mesmerizing and unforgettable.'

-- Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf

'Every now and again a debut novel comes along which is so accomplished you almost suspect the writer's name is a pseudonym for a mischievous literary veteran. Sure-footed, richly imagined and highly original, you could say The Rabbit Hutch is 2022's The Secret History… a profound novel full of clever, thought-provoking ideas.'

-- The Big Issue

'Original and incisive... Breathtaking, compassionate and spectacular.'

-- The Irish Times

'Throughout, tension is mixed with hilarity, heartbreak with hope. It all makes for a gripping, memorable debut full of peculiar wonders.'

-- Mail on Sunday

'Philosophical, and earthy, and tender and also simply very fun to read.' 

-- Rivka Galchen, author of Little Labours

'Gunty writes with a keen, sensitive eye about all manner of intimacies.'

-- Raven Leilani, author of Luster

'Just when everything seemed designed for a brief moment of utility before its planned obsolescence, here comes The Rabbit Hutch, a profoundly wise, wildly inventive, deeply moving work of art whose seemingly infinite offerings will remain with you long after you finish it. Each page of this novel contains a novel, a world.'

-- Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated

'The Rabbit Hutch balances the banal and the ecstatic in a way that made me think of prime David Foster Wallace. It's a story of love, told without sentimentality; a story of cruelty, told without gratuitousness. Gunty is a captivating writer.'

-- Guardian

'Author Tess Gunty has the scope and acuity of David Foster Wallace, without the obscurantism and wilfully slow pace... Brilliant.'

-- Financial Times, The Best Debut Fiction round-up

'Strange, exuberant... Stylish.'

-- The T

ISBN: 9780861543656

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

352 pages