Finished reading: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty 📚

One of my favorite books of last year was White Noise - after finding out that it won the National Book Award, I’m trying to read more Book Award winners. This book made for an especially easy resolution, since the author grew up in – and based the city in the book on – my hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Tess Gunty also went to Notre Dame (in South Bend) for undergrad, just like me - we overlapped for a few years and sounds like we had mutual friends, but we never met.

With the book based on my hometown, I came in with the understanding that I was going to be very critical of the portrayal - and I thought the portrayal of the city was awesome. Not glamorous, but realistic and well-presented. I have a deep love for South Bend, and this book stirred my heart in that place.

The narrative is engaging, funny, and deeply weird. I loved how the author weaved spirituality into lots of different elements of the narrative, while always keeping it at arms length. This strategy felt very “South Bend” to me - a city that both relies on, and is suspicious of, the rich Catholic university at one edge of town. It’s pride comes from both it’s association with and independence from the university.

That being said - you don’t need to have grown up in South Bend or gone to Notre Dame to read this book. It’s impressive as hell, and I think lots of people will like it. I totally think it deserved the National Book Award it received!