Halle Butler’s novel Banal Nightmare is a brilliant millennial comedy of manners.
Kirkus wrote of the book:
“Butler writes with a bee-sting-sharp sense of humor and irony, and nothing is sacred, not Hillary Clinton, not Ruth Bader Ginsburg, not Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before Congress. What’s most surprising is that this cooler-than-the-cool-kids novel actually has an emotional center that will make your pulse race. . . . A tart, irreverent rant of a novel that takes a sharp turn toward something more serious.”
In her own words, here is Halle Butler’s Book Notes music playlist for her novel Banal Nightmare:
This playlist includes a selection of my favorite pump up songs from the past four or five years, many of which I listened to on repeat during different phases of writing and editing Banal Nightmare. The first track is one of my favorite songs about overcoming adversity. I listened to this song many, many, many times in early 2020, and it certainly helped me write this novel. Some of the songs, Marvin Gaye, the Bee Gees and Sade for example, are in the book. Other songs feel connected to certain characters or character dynamics, like Warning Sign, Under My Thumb, and Gigolos Get Lonely Too. Other songs were tonally inspiring, and I listened to them before writing certain scenes. I went back and forth between the first few minutes of Cat People and Ike’s Rap II for a few months during the final edit to get in the mood (I don’t listen to much music while I write, but I listen to music on breaks to maintain energy). I’ve included 27 songs on this mix, but for a digest of the mix, I suggest tracks 18 and 19 on their own. Not every song that makes an appearance in the novel is on this mix. For example, I have chosen not to include the song “Some Nights” by the band Fun, because I would rather smear my face with peanut butter and lie down on the floor at midnight in a roach infested kitchen than listen to that song ever again in my life. “Crash” by the Dave Matthews Band is also not included.
1) Scatman by Scatman John
2) Day Dreaming by Aretha Franklin
3) Warning Sign by The Talking Heads
4) Runnin’ Out of Fools by Neko Case
5) When Am I Going to Make a Living by Sade
6) Total Control by The Motels
7) Real Bad Lookin’ by Alex Cameron
8) Gigolos Get Lonely Too by The Time
9) You’ll Never Get to Heaven by The Stylistics
10) Under My Thumb by The Rolling Stones
11) Cat People (Putting out Fire) by David Bowie–Giorgio Morroder version
12) Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye
13) Nightmare by The Whyte Boots
14) The Golden Girls Theme
15) It by Prince
16) A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing) by Romeo Void
17) I Put a Spell on You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
18) Last Caress by The Misfits
19) Believe by Cher
20) Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay
21) Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees
22) Love is Everywhere by Pharoah Sanders
23) Rich Girl by Hall & Oates
24) Guaracha U.F.O. by Meridian Brothers
25) Medley: Ike’s Rap II/Help Me Love
26) Satan is Real by The Louvin Brothers
27) Young Hearts Run Free by Candy Stanton
Halle Butler’s first novel, Jillian, was called the “feel-bad book of the year” by the Chicago Tribune. Her second novel, The New Me, was named a Best Book of the Decade by Vox and a Best Book of the Year by Vanity Fair, Vulture, the Chicago Tribune, Mashable, Bustle, and NPR, and the New Yorker called it a “definitive work of millennial literature.” She was named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree.