Butter

Gayl Jones’s work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable; from a historical standpoint, she stands at the very cutting edge of understanding the modern world, and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humour, and incisiveness, is unmatched. Jones is a writer’s writer, and her influence is found everywhere

– Imani PerryHer prose is intricate, mesmerizing, and endlessly inventive and subversive – Deesha Philyaw, author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIESA literary giant, and one of my absolute favourite writers – Tayari Jones, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGEGayl Jones is a literary legend – Yara Rodrigues FowlerJones’s writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism … Her imagination seems to thrive on outstripping one’s expectations – Margo JeffersonEvery Jones publication is a major event, but this one is particularly precious. This wide ranging collection of short fiction is only the second by one of our most lauded literary authors. It includes two novella-length works and short stories that are diverse in every meaningful way possible. Jones’s settings, which span time and geography, vary as much as the identities of her protagonists, which include women and men, Black, brown, and Indigenous people, artists and spies. The common threads are creativity and devastating insight * Oprah Daily, ‘The Books We Cannot Wait to Read in 2023’ *