MixedSpectrum CultureAs far as debut novels go, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty is the textbook definition of a swinging for the fences. Its narrative is fractured, formally experimental and asymmetric. The prose style, down to the atomic structure and diction of its sentences, is idiosyncratic and unapologetically weird ... The question still remains though, do these disparate pieces manage to come together and make something bigger than the sum of its parts? The answer is a resounding kinda sorta for the most part ... Gunty’s greatest strength can be found in the atomic structure of her prose. She is incredible as both a stylist and experimenter with language. She dedicates herself to both extremely clear and concrete imagery as well as skewing and subverting tropes ... The ultimate issue with The Rabbit Hutch is that it wants to be two things at once. It’s structure, theme and story would suggest it desires to be a challenging literary novel. It’s length and briskly paced story indicates it wants to be a commercially viable and accessible read. The result is that the book just isn’t long enough to fully develop the story and setting that Gunty has attentively started to build.
