Toad

Sally Gunnar is a reclusive woman who lives alone, brooding over her past regrets and her struggle to feel at home in her own body. Toad, Katherine Dunns novel about her time as a student at Reed College in the late 1960s, is a powerful addition to the canon of feminist fiction, filled with mordant observations about the darkest aspects of human nature.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 29 November 2023
Publisher: St Martin's Press

Sally Gunnar has retreated from the world, spending her days alone at home, immersed in drugstore mysteries, meticulously polishing doorknobs, and waxing floors. Her sole companions are a vase of goldfish, a garden toad, and the monthly door-to-door salesman who supplies her with cleaning supplies. Overwhelmed by her deepest regrets, she dwells on her troubled romances with self-important men, her lifelong struggle to feel at home in her own body, and her rebellious early twenties, when she felt like a fish out of water among a group of eccentric, privileged young people at a liberal arts college. Among them were Sam, an unabashed collector of other people's stories; Carlotta, a troubled free spirit; and Rennel, a self-obsessed philosophy student. With a self-deprecating and sardonic tone, Sally recounts their misadventures, leading up to the tragic event that tore them apart.

Toad, written by Katherine Dunn, is a vibrant and captivating ode to her time as a student at Reed College in the late 1960s. It is filled with the same biting observations about the darkest aspects of human nature that made Geek Love a cult classic and Dunn a misfit hero. Daring and unconventional, Toad showcases Dunn's exceptional talent for black humor and her ecstatic celebration of the grotesque. Over fifty years after its publication, Toad remains a timely story that delves into the ravages of womanhood and makes a significant contribution to the canon of feminist fiction.

Weight: 312g
Dimension: 139 x 212 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781250872296