Synopses & Reviews
A dazzling, darkly comic novel by the author of the The Milagro Beanfield War and The Sterile Cuckoo, The Voice of the Butterfly harnesses Nichols' vintage wit to fresh, hilariously scathing effect. Charley McFarland is an aging '60s radical, continuing proponent of losing battles, and resident of Suicide City, an amalgam of CFCs, SUVs, strip mines, and strip malls. When Suicide City's new highway bypass threatens the home of the exquisitely obscure Rocky Mountain Phistic Copper Butterfly, he knows it's time to rally the troops. Charley's dysfunctional Butterfly Coalition includes the ancient, chainsmoking Lydia Babcock, who owns the butterflies' turf; Susan Delgado, a ballistic local reporter smitten with Charley; Charley's somewhat-baffling, Gen-X son, Luther; and Charley's estranged wife, Kelly, now homeless and self-destructive, but a weirdly brilliant strategist in the fight against the powers-that-be. Kelly and Charley, in love and at each other's throats, relish the butterfly's cause as their last, best chance at reconciliation. But as the crusade's momentum builds, the chaotic relationships driving it on also threaten to tear it apart. Funny, profane, and touching, Nichols' raucous new novel is a knowing look at ideals held and surrendered, and a wild ride through the lunacies of our postmodern age.
Review
"By turns hilarious and bawdy..."
-Boston Herald
"A can't-put-it-down, hilarious sociopolitical adventure."
-Albuquerque Journal
"...colorful and crude."
-Washington Post
"Silly, tasteless, wild, profane and often laugh-out-loud funny."
-Publishers Weekly
"Nichols creates a huge cast of deliciously flawed characters...the book is great fun...Nichols [is] an astute and lyrical writer."
-Seattle Times
"For readers who got a kick out of Hunter S. Thompson in his heyday, here's a novel with gonzo' written all over it."
-Vancouver Sun
"And here is the novel that makes liberation ecology look like fun...Unlike a lot of complainers, for every question Nichols raises, he has an answer..."
-Los Angeles Times
"Extraordinary...the indefatigable Nichols has done it again."
-San Antonio Express-News
Synopsis
A dazzling, darkly comic novel by the author of "The Sterile Cuckoo, The Voice of the Butterfly" looks at chaotic relationships fraught with conservation efforts. Funny and touching, Nichols's novel is a wild ride through the lunacies of our postmodern age.
Synopsis
Now in paperback, John Nichols's fresh, hilarious, and touching novel brings his vintage wit to the absurdities of modern life. When Suicide City's new highway bypass threatens the home of an exquisitely obscure butterfly, aging '60s radical and continuing proponent of losing battles Charley McFarland rallies an off-the-rails band of misfits to help fight the powers that be. A dazzling dark comedy of ideals and unlikely heroes, his latest novel will delight fans of his Milagro Beanfield War and of Nichols's unique style: "Raise the toughest questions you can think of, but keep the readers laughing" (Denver Post).
About the Author
John Nichols is the author of nine novels and seven works of nonfiction. He lives in New Mexico.