A Pizza Hut, A Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut

by Hannah Levene

Herb and Lara are busy slinging coffees in their hometown – of Watford! While Herb dreams of leaving to write big gay plays for a big gay world, Lara’s dedication to being in the here and now keeps her firmly rooted. Plus she’s fallen madly in love with Cynthia, a high-femme roboteer here to finish her PhD, teaching her way through robot post-doc hell, stamping on the brains of robo-boys as she goes. Soon Watford will use Cynthia’s inventions to reinvent itself into the communised Watford Underburg, but not yet.

Meanwhile, Lazarus is back at her mum’s. Her attempt at city life didn’t exactly go to plan, and now she spends her days working on a Yiddish translation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and playing video games. With no capacity to think about her future and trying to forget her past, what will happen? Local football coach Butch Lichenstein, that’s what.

A Pizza Hut, A Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut is a wildly inventive and funny novel that counters the idea of the suburbs as a place queers leave and plays out the radical implications of staying put.

Genres: Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2026

Reviews

[Tass · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - primarily read in suburban croydon. hesitant at first but hearing the author read chapter 1 at gtw let the tone and voices and intentions click into place for me. waidneresque sometimes, with beautiful absurdities and sudden phenomenal layering.

loved the weight & whimsy & time given to the ways we all philosophise in daily life - in cafe jobs & video games & other spaces where it is often not considered serious or academic enough to be “legitimate” or worthwhile philosophy. all counterbalanced by and intertwined with cynthia hyperacademic robotgirl.

very exciting time to be reading queer literature!

[Althea]

3 stars (Not sure why it says it hasn't been released yet when it has...)

I enjoyed this a lot, I liked the unusual writing style and it wasn't like anything I had ever read before. I can't help but compare it to Greasepaint which I really enjoyed, and unfortunately this one didn't meet my high expectations. Also, despite enjoying the fun title, I have no idea why it is called that when there is no mention of a pizza hut or a KFC!

[Alice Foxall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think a lot of this went over my head! One of those decieving short books that you need big brains for

The writing style was interesting, very conversational/witty.

I think there was just a bit too many ideas going on for me to really latch onto anything in a meaningful way.

[han :)) · Rating 3 out of 5]

was engaged the whole way through but quite confused by the end - what the hell is going on with this revolution??

[Penelope Klamert · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of robot but interesting read if you are into the “slice of life” type of books

[Jemima Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes yes yes to this!!!! v much enjoyed all the way thru. particularly loved dystopian watford, john lewis, maccers etc. kinda like the suburban gay baby of the book of form and emptiness and tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow ??

[Jess Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Café Nero is the centre of the universe.

Is this a dystopian/utopian/coming of age/end of time novel? God knows!!! But either way I liked it.

It is written at the speed my brain functions, at the speed of Gen Z thinking. An excited, anxious pace, a story riddled with robots and sexual tension.

To me, the story went a little something like this: She loves me, she loves me not. Does she love her robots more ? Am I exactly where I need go be? Am I bored? Should I move away? I think I’m happy staying put.

At points I felt as though I was both the author and the reader which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both voyeur and audience! How fun!

It’s rare we accept that moving home is not failure, that staying put can be exactly where we belong. We feel the need to outgrow our surroundings.

A tender and fun exploration of being young and queer and feeling both trapped and liberated by your small town surroundings. I enjoyed being part of a friendship group of free thinking creatives and robot nerds. Juvenile, horny but not at all cringey

3.5 out of five very warm and weird.

[Caitlin Holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fragmented in a way that would lend really well to the story if the narration was slightly clearer. I enjoyed how sardonic the tone of voice was but the style did mask some substance for me. I had no real desire to care for the characters or the plot because I didn't have enough time to understand them fully, though I guess that in itself lends well to the overall message of the story, I just can't really get behind a book that is better in conversation/analysis than in the actual reading experience. Dystopian and yet very current, a book for the doomscroll-rotted minds.

[Hayley Rosenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to give this 3.5 stars. Really enjoyed it, but definitely a lot went over my head too; robotics, queer representation in AI, Yiddish, video game culture, however, the theme of growing up different in suburbia, and grappling with the choice of whether to stay or leave and what that says about a person, i found heart wrenching and completely relatable. The style of writing is so unique and many parts are very funny, and completely dead pan. The more i think about it, the more I liked it and 3 stars doesn’t do it justice.

[Hayley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was far too fragmented for me and a lot of it just seemed pointless?I know that sounds harsh but that's how I felt whilst reading this.I think maybe the amount of ideas included just didn't work in such a short book.

[nat! · Rating 2 out of 5]

finished this in a caffè nero which felt very apt, idk if i missed the point but just barely anything happened and not much character development either so it felt boring, it also felt like half edited and idk maybe i just didn’t enjoy the writing style

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC - wonderful utopian near-futurism

[Michael Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spellbinding queer epic, hilarious and heart breaking, making heroes of working class people and celebrating queer, working class culture. Just extraordinary.

[fran hoey · Rating 5 out of 5]

butch lichenstein = dreamboat xxx
(loved this book)

[Alison Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ a hilarious celebration of queer suburbia, feels like it’s teetering on the edge of explosive futurism.

not unlike white teeth in terms of structure/narrative?

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both strangely familiar and just strange. But I liked it.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Alex Dove]

This was too weird for my liking. Too much focus on robots and androids. The writing was also tricky to read at times.