The Rabbit Hutch

A Novel (National Book Award Winner)

By: Tess Gunty

Narrated by: Tess Gunty, Scott Brick, Suzanne Toren, Kirby Heyborne, Kyla Garcia

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • The standout literary debut that everyone is talking about • "Inventive, heartbreaking and acutely funny."—The Guardian

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, TIME, NPR, Oprah Daily, People

Blandine isn't like the other residents of her building.

An online obituary writer. A young mother with a dark secret. A woman waging a solo campaign against rodents — neighbors, separated only by the thin walls of a low-cost housing complex in the once bustling industrial center of Vacca Vale, Indiana.

Welcome to the Rabbit Hutch.

Ethereally beautiful and formidably intelligent, Blandine shares her apartment with three teenage boys she neither likes nor understands, all, like her, now aged out of the state foster care system that has repeatedly failed them, all searching for meaning in their lives.

Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom.

"Gunty writes with a keen, sensitive eye about all manner of intimacies―the kind we build with other people, and the kind we cultivate around ourselves and our tenuous, private aspirations."—Raven Leilani, author of Luster

Interesting story

Not bad but it never feels like it gets off the ground. Still would recommend due to the interesting plot.

A book of feelings

There is tangible sense of the everyday trauma of life shared by the residents of the Rabbit Hutch. Gunty’s writing communicates the lack of control the characters experience over their own lives. For the audio book, initially I felt that the reading sounded flat, but then realize that the tone matches the apathy that the characters experience.

There were some moments where the story may have dragged, but I appreciate how those characters fit into the big picture.

Finally, inspired by Elsie, I need to start keeping an excruciatingly long list of my likes and dislikes. It was fun to hear.

Interesting, well-written, lots of potential

The author narrates this book and while she did okay, I feel like an experienced or professional narrator would have been a better choice. Her tone was just too light and monotone for the depth of her own writing and the drama/significance of many of the plot points. I wasn’t exactly compelled to put my headphones in and listen to this, it took me three weeks to complete. Gunty is a very talented writer and I appreciate what she was trying to do with ‘The Rabbit Hutch’, but I feel its potential wasn’t adequately realized. It’s like she just tried to do too much. Still worth the read/listen and I’ll certainly give her other work a try.

Beautiful language

This is a lovely, very beautifully written story. Not sure that the audiobook is the best format to enjoy it though. You should swim in the words printed on the page to really experience the author’s brilliance.

Great prose

Best thing about tjs story is the prose describing the characters. Fairly simple plot buildup.