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Rabbits For Food
It's New Year's Eve, the holiday of forced fellowship, mandatory fun, and paper hats. While dining out with her husband and their friends, Bunny -an acerbic, mordantly witty, and clinically depressed writer-fully unravels. Her breakdown lands her in the psych ward of a prestigious New York hospital, where she refuses all modes of recommended treatment.
Instead, she passes the time chronicling the lives of her fellow "lunatics" and writing a novel about what brought her there. Her story is a brilliant and brutally funny dive into the disordered mind of a woman who sees the world all
too clearly.
Propelled by razor-sharp comic timing and rife with pinpoint insights, Kirshenbaum examines what it means to be unloved and loved, to succeed and fail, to be at once impervious and raw. Rabbits for Food shows how art can lead
us out of-or into-the depths of disconsolate loneliness and piercing grief. A bravura literary performance from one of America's finest writers.
Instead, she passes the time chronicling the lives of her fellow "lunatics" and writing a novel about what brought her there. Her story is a brilliant and brutally funny dive into the disordered mind of a woman who sees the world all
too clearly.
Propelled by razor-sharp comic timing and rife with pinpoint insights, Kirshenbaum examines what it means to be unloved and loved, to succeed and fail, to be at once impervious and raw. Rabbits for Food shows how art can lead
us out of-or into-the depths of disconsolate loneliness and piercing grief. A bravura literary performance from one of America's finest writers.
384 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2019
719 people are currently reading
8797 people want to read
About the author
Binnie Kirshenbaum
21 books137 followersBinnie Kirshenbaum is the author of two short story collections, six novels, and numerous essays and reviews. Her work is noted for its humorous and ribald prose, which often disguises themes of human loneliness and the yearning for connection. Her heroines are usually urban, very smart, and chastened by lifetimes of unwelcome surprises. Kirshenbaum has been published in German, French, Hebrew, Turkish, and several other languages.
Kirshenbaum grew up in New York and attended Columbia University and Brooklyn College. She is the chair of the Writing Division of the Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts, where she has served as a professor of fiction for more than a decade.
Called, “a humorist, even a comedian, a sort of stand-up tragic,” by Richard Howard, Kirshenbaum has twice won Critics’ Choice Awards and was selected as one of the Best Young American Novelists by Granta Magazine. Kirshenbaum was also a nominee for The National Jewish Book Award for her novel Hester Among the Ruins. Her new novel, The Scenic Route, was published in May, 2009. Of the novel, Gary Steyngart says, “The Scenic Route is warm, wise, and very difficult to put down."
Binnie Kirshenbaum lives and works in New York City.
Binnie Kirshenbaum was born in Yonkers and grew up in Westchester County. After attending Columbia University as an undergraduate, Kirshenbaum earned her MFA at Brooklyn College. She taught at Wagner College before joining the faculty at the Writing Division of Columbia University's School of the Arts.
Kirshenbaum grew up in New York and attended Columbia University and Brooklyn College. She is the chair of the Writing Division of the Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts, where she has served as a professor of fiction for more than a decade.
Called, “a humorist, even a comedian, a sort of stand-up tragic,” by Richard Howard, Kirshenbaum has twice won Critics’ Choice Awards and was selected as one of the Best Young American Novelists by Granta Magazine. Kirshenbaum was also a nominee for The National Jewish Book Award for her novel Hester Among the Ruins. Her new novel, The Scenic Route, was published in May, 2009. Of the novel, Gary Steyngart says, “The Scenic Route is warm, wise, and very difficult to put down."
Binnie Kirshenbaum lives and works in New York City.
Binnie Kirshenbaum was born in Yonkers and grew up in Westchester County. After attending Columbia University as an undergraduate, Kirshenbaum earned her MFA at Brooklyn College. She taught at Wagner College before joining the faculty at the Writing Division of Columbia University's School of the Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 673 reviews
September 30, 2019
This book did not work for me.
Can we talk about the blurb for a minute? There is nothing laugh out loud funny in or about this story.
No doubt Bunny is a character in every sense of the word. She is irreverent, always speaking her mind, but there's nothing really funny about it. After a while her snark became a bit overboard and gratuitous.
I could only take so much of her narration before it became mundane and skim worthy.
The alternating POVs between first person and third person was annoying at best. Bunny was far more interesting and I would have enjoyed the book more if she alone told the story.
On a positive note, the author did an excellent job at portraying the inner turmoil of a person enduring major depression. I know this because I know this. Unfortunately.
"It’s one of the many disadvantages to being mentally ill. You are automatically in the wrong because you are wrong."
So... maybe I'm wrong about this book.
** I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Can we talk about the blurb for a minute? There is nothing laugh out loud funny in or about this story.
No doubt Bunny is a character in every sense of the word. She is irreverent, always speaking her mind, but there's nothing really funny about it. After a while her snark became a bit overboard and gratuitous.
I could only take so much of her narration before it became mundane and skim worthy.
The alternating POVs between first person and third person was annoying at best. Bunny was far more interesting and I would have enjoyed the book more if she alone told the story.
On a positive note, the author did an excellent job at portraying the inner turmoil of a person enduring major depression. I know this because I know this. Unfortunately.
"It’s one of the many disadvantages to being mentally ill. You are automatically in the wrong because you are wrong."
So... maybe I'm wrong about this book.
** I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
July 8, 2019
Her name is Bunny, and yes as she is quick to say, that is her real name, not a nickname. She is a writer, a very depressed one. One who at a New Year's Eve dinner with her pretentious friends, does something that lands her in a mental hospital. The reader watches her descension, from depression to not being able to cope at all.
Although it sounds rather depressing, and yes parts are sad, but it is also humorous, witty and told with a great deal of sensitivity. Wry humor at times seems like the only weapon available,and she uses it to great effect. The stories of the other in the institution, alternately humorous and despairing. Sometimes her observations were so spot on I wondered who was the person in need of help.
It provides great insights to those who suffer from depression as well as what goes on in an institutional hospital. It is a meaningful book, well told with glimpses into the past life of Bunny. It is hard not to take this humorous but suffering woman into ones heart. I did.
Although it sounds rather depressing, and yes parts are sad, but it is also humorous, witty and told with a great deal of sensitivity. Wry humor at times seems like the only weapon available,and she uses it to great effect. The stories of the other in the institution, alternately humorous and despairing. Sometimes her observations were so spot on I wondered who was the person in need of help.
It provides great insights to those who suffer from depression as well as what goes on in an institutional hospital. It is a meaningful book, well told with glimpses into the past life of Bunny. It is hard not to take this humorous but suffering woman into ones heart. I did.
September 26, 2019
Bunny is our narrator and Bunny suffers from clinical depression. This book allows us as readers to spend some time in the mind of a clinically depressed person. A person on the absolute brink of losing it.
And she does lose it during a dinner party with friends.
This episode lands her with a stay in a psychiatric facility where she spends her days with the other "loons" as she likes to call them.
You would think this book would be bleak as hell but it surprisingly isn't. Bunny is one cynical lady that is full of snark and I found her quite humorous. That being said I will admit to having a dry, dark sense of humor. Some people will not find Bunny funny at all. In fact she admits that no one could possibly like her. Bunny is the kind of lady that is brutally honest and this doesn't help her with making friends and sustaining friendships. Her loving husband, Albie, would disagree. He has grown to accept that there is very little he can say or do to boost her spirits. Yet he tries time and time again.
Bunny will often say, "Generally speaking, I'm a headache of a person who is not easy to like." It's true. Bunny is not easy to like, but it's possible to love her.
As a person that, thankfully, does not suffer from depression my heart really went out to Bunny. I have no idea how that emptiness and loneliness feels. It's as if her body had been hollowed out. Nothing but skin on bones. How all encompassing it is. Bunny will go weeks without leaving the house or even bathing. Hygiene is not high on her list when she get's in these states.
What a terrific writer Binnie Kirshenbaum is. I highlighted so many passages while reading.
Bunny as a teenager not wanting to visit family on Thanksgiving:
"Last year there was an infant, and every one carrying on as if the parents had done something extraordinary like publish a book or win the lottery, until I broke in and said, "The earthworm is impressive because it impregnates itself." After that , they all gave me the cold shoulder except Natalie, my nine-year-old nose picking booger wiping on walls cousin."
Teenage Bunny on painting her pink room black:
"Not a chance," her mother said. "Not in my house. When you have your own house , you can paint your walls whatever color you want."
"For your information," Bunny said, "black isn't a color."
Bunny was big on the preface "for your information" a turn of phrase that endeared her to no one.
Bunny on her neighbors baby boy taking his first steps:
"You're not going to believe this. Rocky is walking."
"Yeah? So?" Bunny continues with the task at hand. "They do that. They learn to walk."
"But don't you think that's exciting?"
"I'd be excited if he were flying. But walking? No."
"Do you have to be that way about everything?"
"Yes," Bunny said. "I do have to be that way."
OMG - that sounds like me.
Bunny on New Year's Eve festivities in NYC:
In fact, Bunny has never seen a ball drop. Not on television, and she'd have scooped out an eyeball, rather than go, in person, on the ground, to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
You couldn't pay me to step foot in NYC on New Years Eve so I can completely relate to this.
I think those are enough to give you a proper idea of the type of character you're going to spend time with. People are either going to love Bunny or hate her and I happen to love her. So why only 4 stars for a book that was 95% 5 stars all the way - THAT ENDING! It's abrupt. Too abrupt and I can't say more in fear of spoiling anything.
Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent's Tail Books for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
And she does lose it during a dinner party with friends.
This episode lands her with a stay in a psychiatric facility where she spends her days with the other "loons" as she likes to call them.
You would think this book would be bleak as hell but it surprisingly isn't. Bunny is one cynical lady that is full of snark and I found her quite humorous. That being said I will admit to having a dry, dark sense of humor. Some people will not find Bunny funny at all. In fact she admits that no one could possibly like her. Bunny is the kind of lady that is brutally honest and this doesn't help her with making friends and sustaining friendships. Her loving husband, Albie, would disagree. He has grown to accept that there is very little he can say or do to boost her spirits. Yet he tries time and time again.
Bunny will often say, "Generally speaking, I'm a headache of a person who is not easy to like." It's true. Bunny is not easy to like, but it's possible to love her.
As a person that, thankfully, does not suffer from depression my heart really went out to Bunny. I have no idea how that emptiness and loneliness feels. It's as if her body had been hollowed out. Nothing but skin on bones. How all encompassing it is. Bunny will go weeks without leaving the house or even bathing. Hygiene is not high on her list when she get's in these states.
What a terrific writer Binnie Kirshenbaum is. I highlighted so many passages while reading.
Bunny as a teenager not wanting to visit family on Thanksgiving:
"Last year there was an infant, and every one carrying on as if the parents had done something extraordinary like publish a book or win the lottery, until I broke in and said, "The earthworm is impressive because it impregnates itself." After that , they all gave me the cold shoulder except Natalie, my nine-year-old nose picking booger wiping on walls cousin."
Teenage Bunny on painting her pink room black:
"Not a chance," her mother said. "Not in my house. When you have your own house , you can paint your walls whatever color you want."
"For your information," Bunny said, "black isn't a color."
Bunny was big on the preface "for your information" a turn of phrase that endeared her to no one.
Bunny on her neighbors baby boy taking his first steps:
"You're not going to believe this. Rocky is walking."
"Yeah? So?" Bunny continues with the task at hand. "They do that. They learn to walk."
"But don't you think that's exciting?"
"I'd be excited if he were flying. But walking? No."
"Do you have to be that way about everything?"
"Yes," Bunny said. "I do have to be that way."
OMG - that sounds like me.
Bunny on New Year's Eve festivities in NYC:
In fact, Bunny has never seen a ball drop. Not on television, and she'd have scooped out an eyeball, rather than go, in person, on the ground, to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
You couldn't pay me to step foot in NYC on New Years Eve so I can completely relate to this.
I think those are enough to give you a proper idea of the type of character you're going to spend time with. People are either going to love Bunny or hate her and I happen to love her. So why only 4 stars for a book that was 95% 5 stars all the way - THAT ENDING! It's abrupt. Too abrupt and I can't say more in fear of spoiling anything.
Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent's Tail Books for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
August 12, 2019
“What time is it? Bunny asks.”
“Nine twenty-three. Albie does not point out that she’d asked the same question when it was nine twenty-one because, as if the previous two minutes never happened, he too, although not word for word, repeats himself”:
“I’d be just as happy to stay home”.
Albie and Bunny - married couple - have New Years Eve plans.... they are the same as they were in 2006, 2005, and 2004.
Last year, Bunny told Albie she’d rather stay home and drink Clorox than go to the party.
This year, 2008, Bunny knows she will experience despair and regret, but she forges ahead anyway. She insists on going.
Same friends - ( Trudy, Elliot, Julian, and Lydia, and the Frankenhoff’s)...
Bunny knows it will be an unpleasant dinner - and the worse part of the night will be watching the New Years Eve Ball drop. Albie tries to talk Bunny out from going to the after- party ( Bunny’s worse part: Ball Dropping count down at the Frankenhoff’s house)!
Albie knows Bunny is frail - depressed -and never knows how her behavior might be at a party with pretentious friends.
Albie and Bunny go out to dinner with friends frequently- but it’s not easy for Bunny.
It’s simply not easy being Bunny.
Even living with her ‘name’ is not easy either.
Her parents actually named her Bunny - her birth given name - because they raised rabbits for food. ( ok?/!)
A professor in college didn’t believed Bunny was anything more than a pet name - he pressed on telling Bunny that nobody would take her serious with a name like that.
It was easy to feel the ongoing frustrations Bunny had - re-visits one too many times regarding her name -her god-given-name.... let alone being inside her own head.
Bunny, a writer, a middle child, had a long history with depression.
Bunny is self aware. She knows she is not easy to like ( hopefully easier to love). She judges herself harshly ... feels guilty for being the way she is - and shameful.
She started seeing therapists in college....went through many
Psychiatrists and many different prescribed medications.
Bunny’s mental illness is not easy for Albie, either.
“More than the weeping, more than the lethargy more than the battiness of it all, it’s the self- inflicted trauma that disturbs Albie most”.
Bunny ends up in a psychiatric hospital.
The mental ward is not like a prison - but the inmates don’t talk about what they are in for. They don’t have to ask. Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexic, ... all we’re dealing with psychiatric issues.
Much of this book is the sad reality of mental illness.
“Despair can’t be monitored like blood pressure or measured in centimeters like a tumor”.
Much of this book is funny, too.
Bunny’s sarcasm is often a riot - and I found myself having those quiet-reading-laughs.
Several scenes are hilarious...
Dinner is not just dinner. 🥢
Great satire laughs!
But there was a nurse: Andrea... that had me scratching my head. I found her more irritating and inappropriate than funny or sad. My fear is she wasn’t much different than real nurses who work in psychiatric units.
The very first line of this novel cracks me up. ( shouldn’t be funny- but.....I was quietly smirking/ laughing inside).
“The dog is late, and I’m wearing pajamas made from the same material as
Handi Wipes, which is reason enough for me to wish I were dead”.
HANDI- WIPES?/!!! Where did the author come up with that one?/!! Too funny!
Overall - great wit.. and insights...with flashback childhood stories.
I enjoyed this novel!!
This is the first time I’ve read anything by Binnie Kirshenbaum. I’d like to read other books she’s written.
“Nine twenty-three. Albie does not point out that she’d asked the same question when it was nine twenty-one because, as if the previous two minutes never happened, he too, although not word for word, repeats himself”:
“I’d be just as happy to stay home”.
Albie and Bunny - married couple - have New Years Eve plans.... they are the same as they were in 2006, 2005, and 2004.
Last year, Bunny told Albie she’d rather stay home and drink Clorox than go to the party.
This year, 2008, Bunny knows she will experience despair and regret, but she forges ahead anyway. She insists on going.
Same friends - ( Trudy, Elliot, Julian, and Lydia, and the Frankenhoff’s)...
Bunny knows it will be an unpleasant dinner - and the worse part of the night will be watching the New Years Eve Ball drop. Albie tries to talk Bunny out from going to the after- party ( Bunny’s worse part: Ball Dropping count down at the Frankenhoff’s house)!
Albie knows Bunny is frail - depressed -and never knows how her behavior might be at a party with pretentious friends.
Albie and Bunny go out to dinner with friends frequently- but it’s not easy for Bunny.
It’s simply not easy being Bunny.
Even living with her ‘name’ is not easy either.
Her parents actually named her Bunny - her birth given name - because they raised rabbits for food. ( ok?/!)
A professor in college didn’t believed Bunny was anything more than a pet name - he pressed on telling Bunny that nobody would take her serious with a name like that.
It was easy to feel the ongoing frustrations Bunny had - re-visits one too many times regarding her name -her god-given-name.... let alone being inside her own head.
Bunny, a writer, a middle child, had a long history with depression.
Bunny is self aware. She knows she is not easy to like ( hopefully easier to love). She judges herself harshly ... feels guilty for being the way she is - and shameful.
She started seeing therapists in college....went through many
Psychiatrists and many different prescribed medications.
Bunny’s mental illness is not easy for Albie, either.
“More than the weeping, more than the lethargy more than the battiness of it all, it’s the self- inflicted trauma that disturbs Albie most”.
Bunny ends up in a psychiatric hospital.
The mental ward is not like a prison - but the inmates don’t talk about what they are in for. They don’t have to ask. Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexic, ... all we’re dealing with psychiatric issues.
Much of this book is the sad reality of mental illness.
“Despair can’t be monitored like blood pressure or measured in centimeters like a tumor”.
Much of this book is funny, too.
Bunny’s sarcasm is often a riot - and I found myself having those quiet-reading-laughs.
Several scenes are hilarious...
Dinner is not just dinner. 🥢
Great satire laughs!
But there was a nurse: Andrea... that had me scratching my head. I found her more irritating and inappropriate than funny or sad. My fear is she wasn’t much different than real nurses who work in psychiatric units.
The very first line of this novel cracks me up. ( shouldn’t be funny- but.....I was quietly smirking/ laughing inside).
“The dog is late, and I’m wearing pajamas made from the same material as
Handi Wipes, which is reason enough for me to wish I were dead”.
HANDI- WIPES?/!!! Where did the author come up with that one?/!! Too funny!
Overall - great wit.. and insights...with flashback childhood stories.
I enjoyed this novel!!
This is the first time I’ve read anything by Binnie Kirshenbaum. I’d like to read other books she’s written.
November 17, 2019
Many people have said "Rabbits for Food" is funny, even very funny, so that's what I expected...but I didn't laugh much. It's written in very short chapters that go back and forth in time. The protagonist, Bunny, is a smart woman, a published novelist living in Manhattan with her husband. and suffering from major Depression. One New Year's Eve, at dinner in a pretentious restaurant with some jaded friends, Bunny loses it. She's taken to a psych ward and put on a hold. A lot of the book takes place there.
There are plenty of disagreeable, selfish, unpleasant people in the world and it's frustratingly unclear if Bunny was one even before she had Depression. Or even if she was born with Depression which simmered until it boiled over that night in the restaurant. The author does a great job describing the parts of Bunny made of Depression. She's unhappy, unproductive and unmotivated. Disconnected and distant, she sits around the apartment all day in dirty pajamas. She barely showers, has no appetite. Because she's been published we know her life hasn't always been this way. Her husband is frustrated but we don't get to know him. The book is written only from Bunny's viewpoint and every other character is a stick figure.
I get how people find Bunny's sarcasm funny and entertaining even though I didn't. Some of her thoughts made me uncomfortable. It's not that I think mental illness is off limits to humor; I loved "Girl Interrupted" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." This book is nothing like those. It's always and only about Bunny. I gave it three stars because Bunny is a memorable character who has stayed with me. I'm left wondering what her earlier life was like and what became of her after the book ended. I appreciate that food for thought. Without it "Rabbits for Food" would just have been an enigmatic, two-star, too-sad story.
There are plenty of disagreeable, selfish, unpleasant people in the world and it's frustratingly unclear if Bunny was one even before she had Depression. Or even if she was born with Depression which simmered until it boiled over that night in the restaurant. The author does a great job describing the parts of Bunny made of Depression. She's unhappy, unproductive and unmotivated. Disconnected and distant, she sits around the apartment all day in dirty pajamas. She barely showers, has no appetite. Because she's been published we know her life hasn't always been this way. Her husband is frustrated but we don't get to know him. The book is written only from Bunny's viewpoint and every other character is a stick figure.
I get how people find Bunny's sarcasm funny and entertaining even though I didn't. Some of her thoughts made me uncomfortable. It's not that I think mental illness is off limits to humor; I loved "Girl Interrupted" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." This book is nothing like those. It's always and only about Bunny. I gave it three stars because Bunny is a memorable character who has stayed with me. I'm left wondering what her earlier life was like and what became of her after the book ended. I appreciate that food for thought. Without it "Rabbits for Food" would just have been an enigmatic, two-star, too-sad story.
May 2, 2021
3.5 rounded to 4 stars
This was different. Quirky. Rabbits for Food is a quiet little novel about a young woman with a major depressive disorder named Bunny (“yes, that’s my REAL name”). Bunny is married to Albie who loves Bunny unconditionally. But Bunny loses it and commits an unacceptable act, which lands her in the Psych Unit. “With all those other loons.” The story basically is told from Bunny’s viewpoint. Bunny seems very intelligent and in fact is a wannabe writer. But she is albatrossed with mental health issues, which basically bring her to a standstill.
Most of the story takes place in the Psych Unit. We meet all sorts of other patients there, all with their own quirks and issues. The catatonic lady, Mr. Underpants, the Teacher, the cop, and more. The staff is pretty stereotypic. Interestingly, I thought they could learn a few things from Bunny.
I loved the relationship between Bunny and Albie. Clearly, no matter how much sweet Albie loves Bunny, he needs an outlet. This is basically okay with Bunny. They make it work.
The tale is infused with humor. Not really laugh out loud humor, but more subtle, more wry. I smiled a lot. I felt badly for Bunny, and really, all the patients. To be trapped in a psychiatric state that precludes normal functioning must be total hell. I found it very enlightening to be in Bunny’s head for this journey. One of my criteria for a well-chosen book is that I learn something, and I did learn from this story.
I should mention that the book is written as a series of short vignettes with an occasional pertinent short story “authored” by Bunny herself. This style propelled me to finish the book in short order as what’s another vignette when bedtime approaches and passes.
I had to chop off half a star in my “real rating” of 3.5 because of the shockingly abrupt ending. What is that all about? Did I only get part of a book from my Libby App this time? Nope, I see another reviewer called this out as well, so I guess that’s the way the author decided to go for some reason. Maybe because there is no easy way to tie a bright red ribbon on this kind of true-to-life story.
Nevertheless, I thought Rabbits for Food was a worthwhile read. I was engrossed in Bunny’s journey and wouldn’t mind a sequel, though I’m pretty sure there won’t be one. Recommended for all looking for an absorbing inside look at living with major depression accompanied by a little levity.
Special thanks to my Goodreads friend Diane S. whose review helped me make the final decision to pick this one up.
This was different. Quirky. Rabbits for Food is a quiet little novel about a young woman with a major depressive disorder named Bunny (“yes, that’s my REAL name”). Bunny is married to Albie who loves Bunny unconditionally. But Bunny loses it and commits an unacceptable act, which lands her in the Psych Unit. “With all those other loons.” The story basically is told from Bunny’s viewpoint. Bunny seems very intelligent and in fact is a wannabe writer. But she is albatrossed with mental health issues, which basically bring her to a standstill.
Most of the story takes place in the Psych Unit. We meet all sorts of other patients there, all with their own quirks and issues. The catatonic lady, Mr. Underpants, the Teacher, the cop, and more. The staff is pretty stereotypic. Interestingly, I thought they could learn a few things from Bunny.
I loved the relationship between Bunny and Albie. Clearly, no matter how much sweet Albie loves Bunny, he needs an outlet. This is basically okay with Bunny. They make it work.
The tale is infused with humor. Not really laugh out loud humor, but more subtle, more wry. I smiled a lot. I felt badly for Bunny, and really, all the patients. To be trapped in a psychiatric state that precludes normal functioning must be total hell. I found it very enlightening to be in Bunny’s head for this journey. One of my criteria for a well-chosen book is that I learn something, and I did learn from this story.
I should mention that the book is written as a series of short vignettes with an occasional pertinent short story “authored” by Bunny herself. This style propelled me to finish the book in short order as what’s another vignette when bedtime approaches and passes.
I had to chop off half a star in my “real rating” of 3.5 because of the shockingly abrupt ending. What is that all about? Did I only get part of a book from my Libby App this time? Nope, I see another reviewer called this out as well, so I guess that’s the way the author decided to go for some reason. Maybe because there is no easy way to tie a bright red ribbon on this kind of true-to-life story.
Nevertheless, I thought Rabbits for Food was a worthwhile read. I was engrossed in Bunny’s journey and wouldn’t mind a sequel, though I’m pretty sure there won’t be one. Recommended for all looking for an absorbing inside look at living with major depression accompanied by a little levity.
Special thanks to my Goodreads friend Diane S. whose review helped me make the final decision to pick this one up.
May 10, 2019
I am so confused. I feel stupid because I definitely missed something. First of all, “laugh out loud”? Did the person who wrote the blurb actually read the book? This is one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. Everyone is unlikeable. Memories that are important are never really addressed. And I don’t understand the end AT ALL. Frustrating.
July 13, 2019
This will likely be in my favourite novels of the year list. Perfect reading after Juliet the Maniac too as it shows exactly what can be done with this kind of narrative about a disordered mind. I love very funny books about very sad things. Bunny, our protagonist, is acerbic and witty and clever in exactly the ways I wanted her to be. Her depression, grief and neurosis is perfectly rendered. And what Kirshenbaum does so well is the details. The details! This book is glorious. A rare five star read.
March 23, 2020
Thank you, Netgalley and Serpent's Tail for sending me a digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. I wasn't expecting to like "Rabbits for Food" as much as I did. I thought it was going to be a watered-down version of "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, but Binnie Kirshenbaum really proved she's got a strong writing voice in the form of her mentally fragile protagonist, Bunny.
Bunny is a clinically depressed New Yorker who's sense of reality begins to unravel over the course of New Year's Eve in 2008. Bunny has a somewhat supportive husband, Albie (he's got secrets of his own, though) but she doesn't have many close friends, and her sisters absolutely despise her ever since adolescence. Bunny has been depressed on and off since she was a teenager. But her depression has never been this extreme until she has a psychotic break at a New Year's Eve dinner celebration with her so-called "friends".
Bunny is checked involuntarily into a psychiatric hospital for her own protection, and to work on her recovery. There she meets other "psychos" (her words, not mine) like herself. Even though she claims she has no friends, she feels a kinship and understanding with these other patients. There's some flashback scenes where Bunny talks about the only true friend she ever had, Stella, who tragically died years before.
I can honestly say that "Rabbits for Food" is an accurate portrayal of mental illness. It unnerved me in the best possible way. The way Bunny describes her depression is so vivid and detailed. I really liked her intensity, sarcasm, and brutal honesty. This book won't be for everyone, but I really appreciate any author that bravely writes about mental illness, in any shape or form.
Wow. I wasn't expecting to like "Rabbits for Food" as much as I did. I thought it was going to be a watered-down version of "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, but Binnie Kirshenbaum really proved she's got a strong writing voice in the form of her mentally fragile protagonist, Bunny.
Bunny is a clinically depressed New Yorker who's sense of reality begins to unravel over the course of New Year's Eve in 2008. Bunny has a somewhat supportive husband, Albie (he's got secrets of his own, though) but she doesn't have many close friends, and her sisters absolutely despise her ever since adolescence. Bunny has been depressed on and off since she was a teenager. But her depression has never been this extreme until she has a psychotic break at a New Year's Eve dinner celebration with her so-called "friends".
Bunny is checked involuntarily into a psychiatric hospital for her own protection, and to work on her recovery. There she meets other "psychos" (her words, not mine) like herself. Even though she claims she has no friends, she feels a kinship and understanding with these other patients. There's some flashback scenes where Bunny talks about the only true friend she ever had, Stella, who tragically died years before.
I can honestly say that "Rabbits for Food" is an accurate portrayal of mental illness. It unnerved me in the best possible way. The way Bunny describes her depression is so vivid and detailed. I really liked her intensity, sarcasm, and brutal honesty. This book won't be for everyone, but I really appreciate any author that bravely writes about mental illness, in any shape or form.
July 14, 2019
Credit to Kirshenbaum for tackling the topic of mental illness, but the tone is uneven and at times jarring. You know how there are mean drunks? The protagonist here is a mean depressive, and no matter how many times she and other characters announce that nobody likes her, it still is painful to spend time with her, and it doesn't make her "humor" any less cruel. And does the protagonist have to be not just mentally ill but a briliiant writer who lives in Manhattan? This wasn't a hate read for me, but it sorely taxed my capacity for empathy. On the other hand, it left me feeling sad (although not moved), so maybe that's a win for the author? In any case, YMMV.
July 11, 2019
Unfunny, bitter, sarcastic, self-indulgefest
April 29, 2019
It’s New Year’s Eve and Bunny is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Named because her parents raised rabbits for food, Bunny knows that she’s unlikeable. She’s embarrassed to be “suffering” from depression because “suffering” is a word that should be reserved for people in more dire situations than hers.
Rabbits for Food is like The Bell Jar crossed with Ottessa Moshfegh. It’s observational and wry and hilarious: aware of the seriousness of its subject matter, but nevertheless committed to irreverence.
The result is a masterful depiction of the monotony of depression and the seemingly futile quest to overcome it within the halls of a psych ward where the food is disgusting and the medications have excruciating side effects and the color scheme is an uninspired beige and it’s hard not to laugh at the irony of expecting people to come out of a place like that better than when they came in.
I loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone.
Rabbits for Food is like The Bell Jar crossed with Ottessa Moshfegh. It’s observational and wry and hilarious: aware of the seriousness of its subject matter, but nevertheless committed to irreverence.
The result is a masterful depiction of the monotony of depression and the seemingly futile quest to overcome it within the halls of a psych ward where the food is disgusting and the medications have excruciating side effects and the color scheme is an uninspired beige and it’s hard not to laugh at the irony of expecting people to come out of a place like that better than when they came in.
I loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone.
April 30, 2019
A black comedy about Bunny, a tactless and less-than-successful New York City writer who winds up in a mental hospital on New Year’s Eve 2008, after a restaurant meal with pretentious friends ends with her stabbing herself in the thigh with a fork. Flashbacks and creative writing prompts give glimpses into Bunny’s past – growing up as a slighted middle child, losing her best friend and a beloved cat, her long history with psychiatrists and medication for depression, etc. – in both the first and the third person. Scenes in the mental hospital introduce a quirky cast of secondary characters and a byzantine set of rules about what’s allowed and what’s not. Bunny’s sarcastic voice is a draw, and the writing is vivid and often funny. However, the book is so dark that I suspect many will struggle to sympathize with its unlikable characters. Those particularly interested in an inside look at mental institutions may still want to read it. (Given the author’s name, I had to wonder to what extent this is autobiographical. In the novel, Bunny is the character’s real name, not a nickname; her parents raised rabbits for food, thus the title phrase.)
July 11, 2019
I read many good reviews on this book with comments regarding it being brilliant, witty, and hilarious. I found it to be none of these things. Bunny, the protagonist is a published novelist living in Manhattan with her husband. She suffers from depression and is eventually institutionalized when her antisocial behavior becomes self destructive. I listened on Audible and the story was told by Bunny, who I found chatty and unlikable, and not at all humorous. I guess you could call it wry humor, but I found it hard to find any humor in mental illness. I was so bored with the dialog that I just couldn't get past the ninth chapter. Nothing gripped me to go any further. Needless to say, this is a book that I could not recommend.
July 23, 2019
Dark humor in the vein of Ottessa Moshfegh. Super funny if you're into psych ward common room humor (I am).
July 21, 2019
Diane S. wrote an excellent review for this title.
Can't count how many times I have relied on Diane S to help me choose my next read and to make "my reviews" so easy to write- as in-"See Diane S's excellent review." : ))
Can't count how many times I have relied on Diane S to help me choose my next read and to make "my reviews" so easy to write- as in-"See Diane S's excellent review." : ))
April 30, 2024
"rabbits for food" is a dryly humorous and profoundly depressing story told in a sequence of biting fragments from the mind of a witty writer as she struggles with her mental health. if you enjoyed "my year of rest and relaxation" you should definitely give this a try!
3.5 / 5
3.5 / 5
February 14, 2020
Depression is an absolute bitch. If you have ever suffered from it, or watched someone you love suffer from it, you will find within this book more than ample material to relate to. Bunny has clinical depression, and it is, at best, frustrating, non-sensical, horrific, and debilitating. She’s lived through this all her life, egged on by her family situation and the illness of her cat, and it’s destroying her life. Her husband seeks solace in the arms of someone else, and she’s so beyond miserable that she can’t find it in herself to care. To some this may seem like a contrite, somewhat whiny set of circumstances, but to anyone who has even been near depression, it makes complete sense. Yoga usually does a big fat load of nothing, medication is unreliable and difficult, and sometimes there’s little you can do but face the oncoming wave. This book is for those people. The story was well-written and just the right amount of sarcasm and darkness was tossed in, and it just forms a fascinating and vital image of how life is in the dark abyss that is depression.
June 18, 2019
Heartbreaking and oftentimes funny story narrated by Bunny who suffers, really and truly suffers, from depression. The story starts at her home with her husband Albie and travels forward to a hospital stay and backwards a bit to her childhood.
In the end I am just sad, although fiction it is also quite true.
“ why is everything – the walls, the furniture, the carpet, the curtains – in a spectrum of colors that, in the crayon box, would have names like: Listless, Hopeless, Sour Milk?”
In the end I am just sad, although fiction it is also quite true.
“ why is everything – the walls, the furniture, the carpet, the curtains – in a spectrum of colors that, in the crayon box, would have names like: Listless, Hopeless, Sour Milk?”
June 28, 2019
2.5 Stars
dnf
September 22, 2019DNF @ 26%
(Life is too short not to DNF average books.)
(Life is too short not to DNF average books.)
March 16, 2023
everything girl in pieces wanted to be
September 27, 2024
Whoever described this as 'laugh out loud funny' in the blurb is a psychopath
May 24, 2019
This book will without a doubt be in my top ten list for the year.
“No matter what is wrong with Bunny, whatever you want to call it, one thing is certain—to be sick in the head is not at all the same as being normal sick. If you are normal sick, people will at least pretend to care.”
Darkly comedic while offering a wry and keen perspective on the strange necessity of human interaction and relationships, Kirshenbaum explores depression and mental anxiety—those invisible disorders of the mind.
I related to main character Bunny in so many ways. She just wants to be left alone to read. She says what she thinks and feels in situations—almost especially when it is the wrong thing to say. When she feels like throwing something across the room, she does it. And all the time, there’s something ticking in her mind, something that says—why me? Why am I different, why do I act this way? Why do I feel this way? Why can’t I stop it?
I think we all feel alone in the crowd, at least sometimes.
The first half of the story follows her descent from her point of view, the debilitating feeling of being stuck in your own head and not being able to get out. When no one quite understands what is wrong or how to help you, when it has been a lifetime of struggling just to get to a place of semi-normality. I loved how the narrative—mostly set on December 31, 2008, as Bunny prepares to go out to dinner and a New Year’s Eve party with her friends—is constantly in flux as she remembers pieces of her past, as little moments and objects fit together into a wider narrative of childhood, loss, friendship, and the buildup of her depression.
The second half of the story is what happens next, when it all becomes too much, and in Bell Jar, Girl, Interrupted, and Cuckoo’s Nest fashion, an abrupt new way of life begins, for better or for worse—for real or imagined.
Brilliant, thought-provoking, emotionally stirring, truly relatable, and a true reminder of the power of fiction.
My thanks to Soho for my copy of this one to read and review.
“No matter what is wrong with Bunny, whatever you want to call it, one thing is certain—to be sick in the head is not at all the same as being normal sick. If you are normal sick, people will at least pretend to care.”
Darkly comedic while offering a wry and keen perspective on the strange necessity of human interaction and relationships, Kirshenbaum explores depression and mental anxiety—those invisible disorders of the mind.
I related to main character Bunny in so many ways. She just wants to be left alone to read. She says what she thinks and feels in situations—almost especially when it is the wrong thing to say. When she feels like throwing something across the room, she does it. And all the time, there’s something ticking in her mind, something that says—why me? Why am I different, why do I act this way? Why do I feel this way? Why can’t I stop it?
I think we all feel alone in the crowd, at least sometimes.
The first half of the story follows her descent from her point of view, the debilitating feeling of being stuck in your own head and not being able to get out. When no one quite understands what is wrong or how to help you, when it has been a lifetime of struggling just to get to a place of semi-normality. I loved how the narrative—mostly set on December 31, 2008, as Bunny prepares to go out to dinner and a New Year’s Eve party with her friends—is constantly in flux as she remembers pieces of her past, as little moments and objects fit together into a wider narrative of childhood, loss, friendship, and the buildup of her depression.
The second half of the story is what happens next, when it all becomes too much, and in Bell Jar, Girl, Interrupted, and Cuckoo’s Nest fashion, an abrupt new way of life begins, for better or for worse—for real or imagined.
Brilliant, thought-provoking, emotionally stirring, truly relatable, and a true reminder of the power of fiction.
My thanks to Soho for my copy of this one to read and review.
June 30, 2019
This character is awful. Its sad how catty and mean she is and admits it and then wonders why no one likes her. That's what bothers me the most. Mental health problems doesnt give anyone the right to be a jerk and use that for an excuse. It's not the depression making person unlikable, it's the personality. Bunny is an entitled, clueless, mean spirited woman and nothing about her musings were funny.
At the same time I finished this book yesterday and still ruminating. The character is thoroughly unlikable but I get her thoughts of not wanting to live but not wanting to die.
Overall though except for some symptoms I could not relate and as an avid book reader thoroughly loathed her to the point where I did not care and the ending was lackluster to say the least.
At the same time I finished this book yesterday and still ruminating. The character is thoroughly unlikable but I get her thoughts of not wanting to live but not wanting to die.
Overall though except for some symptoms I could not relate and as an avid book reader thoroughly loathed her to the point where I did not care and the ending was lackluster to say the least.
June 28, 2019
Sylvia Plath’s melancholy meets Liane Moriarty’s humor in Kirshenbaum’s newest novel. An intimate look into the mind of a clinically depressed woman, this book is sure to resonate with anyone who’s experienced hospitalization, depression’s grasp, or how it feels to be unknown.
July 3, 2019
an insufferable book.
August 21, 2019
What a voice! Heartbreaking and hilarious, just the tonic for those times you wanted to slit your throat if you had to spend one more minute with pretentious snobs--like a marriage of The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar.
March 24, 2019
Wow! Fucking wow! I mean, wow!
Read
April 25, 2019This book is a brilliant, humorous, and painfully acute look at mental illness. Bunny has a mental breakdown on New Year's Eve and is sent to the hospital for in-patient care. The book follows her observations of fellow patients while chronicling what led her to that place. The depiction of depression is spot on and chilling, while the way that Bunny sees the world is also incredibly funny and dark.
In many ways, this reminds me of The Bell Jar in a more modern setting. There is a meta narrative here, as it's a story about a writer writing her observations of the experience while simultaneously encouraging readers to wonder if this is a memoir or a work of fiction . There were some killer lines throughout, and one that sticks out to me is about how sometimes, grief gets buried within us, even after we think we've moved through it, and it awakens anew. We see this play out in Bunny's recollections of Angela, her first beloved cat.
And really, I think in the end, the big takeaway on this one is that we're all a level of crazy because we're humans, with emotions and feelings and experiences, and it's a matter of finding a way to balance those things in ways society deems appropriate .
In many ways, this reminds me of The Bell Jar in a more modern setting. There is a meta narrative here, as it's a story about a writer writing her observations of the experience while simultaneously encouraging readers to wonder if this is a memoir or a work of fiction . There were some killer lines throughout, and one that sticks out to me is about how sometimes, grief gets buried within us, even after we think we've moved through it, and it awakens anew. We see this play out in Bunny's recollections of Angela, her first beloved cat.
And really, I think in the end, the big takeaway on this one is that we're all a level of crazy because we're humans, with emotions and feelings and experiences, and it's a matter of finding a way to balance those things in ways society deems appropriate .
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