A short life of the author
Halle Butler (b. 1985) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Life and Career
Jillian (2015) — about two women in a gastroenterology office who are united by mutual resentment — was her debut: a short, dark, formally tight novel about the horror of unfulfilling work and toxic friendships.
The New Me (2019) — about a woman trapped in a temp job who cannot seem to make any change in her life — became a minor sensation, praised for its agonizingly precise depiction of millennial stagnation. The New Yorker called it “the great American antiwork novel.”
Banal Nightmare (2024) — about a woman who returns to Chicago after a breakup and confronts the social dynamics of her old friend group — extends her territory.
Major Works and Themes
Butler writes about work, friendship, stagnation, and the gap between the life you want and the one you have. Her fiction is darkly funny and formally spare.
Key Works
- The New Me (2019)
- Banal Nightmare (2024)
Collecting Butler
Jillian first edition (Curbside Splendor, 2015) brings $20–$40. The New Me (Penguin, 2019) brings $10–$20.