Alice Knott

Alice Knott is a 2020 novel by American author Blake Butler.[1] The novel concerns the theft and destruction of a painting collection and its impact on the painting's original owner, the titular Alice Knott.[2] In The Nation, Brooks Sterritt wrote that the book "...resonates so strongly with life under lockdown", though noting that the book was completed before the 2020 pandemic.[3]

Alice Knott
AuthorBlake Butler
CountryUnited States

Development and writing

Butler's earliest inspiration for the book was a note written to himself reading “Corporation that buys and destroys art”.[4] He was further inspired by the Thomas Pynchon novel The Crying of Lot 49.[4]

Reception

Critics highlighted that the book could be challenging.[1][2]

References
  1. Wilkinson, Lauren (24 July 2020). "Bring Your Flamethrower. In This Novel, Art Feels the Burn". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. Domini, John (1 August 2020). "Undeniably Contemporary: On Blake Butler's "Alice Knott"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. Sterritt, Brooks (2 September 2020). "Is This the First Great Quarantine Novel?". The Nation. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. Jones, Shane (6 July 2020). "An Interview with Blake Butler". Believer Magazine. The Believer. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
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