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Arts·Commotion

Is Banal Nightmare the novel millennials have been waiting for?

Now that the millennial midlife crisis is here, culture critic Amil Niazi chats with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how art is tangling with this moment.

Halle Butler’s new book follows a 30-something woman who moves home & reexamines her life after a big breakup

CBC Arts ·
A book cover featuring a digital illustration of a woman's face exclaiming while holding a calm mask version of her face, and a headshot of a brunette woman smiling at the camera.
The cover art for Banal Nightmare, and author Halle Butler. (Penguin Random House, Jerzy Rose)

Halle Butler's third novel, Banal Nightmare, is getting a lot of buzz for its depiction of millennial midlife.

The book follows Margaret, a woman in her thirties living in Chicago when she breaks up with her boyfriend of 10 years. She flees the city for the summer following the split and returns to her hometown, in an effort to ignore the feeling that she may have already failed at life.

Now that the millennial midlife crisis is here, culture critic Amil Niazi chats with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how art is tangling with this moment.

WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube (this segment begins at 16:23): 

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Amil Niazi produced by Jean Kim.

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