Pickle's Progress: A Novel

By Marcia Butler

Marcia Butler’s debut novel, Pickle’s Progress, is a fierce, mordant New York story about the twisted path to love.

Over the course of five weeks, identical twin brothers, one wife, a dog, and a bereaved young woman collide with each other to comical and sometimes horrifying effect. Everything is questioned and tested as they jockey for position and try to maintain the status quo. Love is the poison, the antidote, the devil and, ultimately, the hero.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
• Release date: Apr 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781771681568

Marcia Butler

Marcia Butler has had a number of creative careers: professional musician, interior designer, documentary filmmaker, and author. As an oboist, the New York Times hailed her as a “first rate artist.” Acclaimed interior designs include projects in New York City, Boston, and Miami. After many decades in New York City, Marcia now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews for Pickle's Progress

[over.the.edge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pickle´s Progress: A Novel by Marcia Butler due 4-9-2019 Central Avenue Publishing 3.9 / 5.0 Manhattan alcoholic power couple, Stan and Karen McArdle, successful architects, and Stans identical twin brother, Pickle are caught in a weird twisted love triangle. Pickle is a cop who has repeated helped his brother, Stan beat DUIś because Pickle has a secret. One he has kept from his brother. He is having an affair with Karen. Driving home after a few drinks, Stan runs into a guardrail on the George Washington bridge when he sees a woman, Junie, standing at the rail, traumatized by her partner who just jumped over the ledge. Karen invites Junie to stay with them, and soon Pickle begins spending time with Junie.......This is a story of dysfunction and love. The human weaknesses and bizarre and unusual choices made by these dysfunctional and disturbed people are an interesting study and unforgettable, the lack of conscience is amazing. Several twists keep the story fluid and engaging. i enjoyed this twisted tale of a dysfunctional love triangle.Thanks to Central Avenue and netgalley for this e-book ARC for a fair and honest review.#PickleśProgress #Netgalley

[grandmacootie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

When I downloaded Pickle’s Progress from NetGalley I was excited to read it. The blurb made it sound edgy and interesting, and the author’s introduction even more so. However, the more I read it the less I liked it, and the more I realized that the story is nothing like the description. There is no warmth or humor or love. The characters are all unlikeable. A novel can still work if the characters are unlikeable, but not if they are also uninteresting. They all lie, cheat, whine, sneak around, pretend to be what they are not, and have some pretty serious issues stemming from past or present events, but you don’t really care. Just when you start to like someone or feel sympathetic, more is revealed about their past or present behavior and issues that makes it impossible to relate to them.I love to read and try to give each book the benefit of the doubt, especially when it’s an author’s debut novel. Frankly, though, had I not committed to writing a review when I downloaded the book from NetGalley I would have stopped reading about half-way through. I kept hoping for some logic or purpose to the flow of the story but there was not, and the ending was unsatisfying. I do thank NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the opportunity to read Pickle’s Progress and provide this honest review. I just regret that it could not be a more positive one.

[teachlz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Pickles’s Progress” by Marcia Butler, Central Avenue Publishing, April 9, 2019Marcia Butler, Author of “Pickle’s Progress” has written an unusual, unique perspective about life and love. The Genres of “Pickle’s Progress” are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Dry Wit, and some Satire. The story takes place mostly in the New York and surrounding areas. The author describes the four characters as complicated, complex, unlikable at times, dysfunctional, quirky, and strange. My favorite character is the dog.(the fifth character if that counts)The characters are two identical twin brothers, Pickles and Stan and Stan’s wife and a young woman who has had a tragic loss. Stan and his wife are living in their part of a Brownstone house, that they purchased with Pickles. The grieving woman is living in Stan’s finished basement. Pickles want to have his part of the house finished so he can move in. The interaction between all of the characters is almost like a game of chess in certain ways. There are betrayals, unpredictable actions, and a twisted plot.The ending is a big surprise! I appreciate that Marcia Butler has written a thought-provoking unique story about love and life . I would recommend this book for those readers who enjoy an unusual novel that leaves you thinking.

[kimkimkim-7 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh, so many unlikeable characters with ridiculous problems, issues and weird behavior. When I started the book I thought it had promise I just had no idea that the promise was going to be complete disbelief of what was going on. The dialog, the actions, the situations, everything was out of whack and strange, strange, strange. For all who choose to try this book fair warning, suspend belief in rational behavior.I received an advance copy from Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing.

[froxgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lot can happen in five weeks - maybe not in Kansas, but certainly in New York City. This novel features four damaged characters, three of whom are narrators, and one dog called "THE Doodles". Two are married and while driving drunk, the husband almost runs over a woman whose boyfriend jumped from the George Washington Bridge, just missing pulling her over with him. The fourth character is a police officer specializing in suicides, who's also the identical twin brother of the impaired husband. No spoilers, but Junie, the woman who survives the suicide attempt, is possibly a visiting angel whose mission is to save the other three. Are they worth saving? Policeman Pickle and his twin's wife Karen are products of dementedly neglectful parents. Stan, the husband, has alarming OCD and is annoying and unkind. There's actually a fifth persona in the book, the most lovingly portrayed - New York City. The writer loves its skies, skyscrapers, mornings and twilights, moods, and even its outer borough of Queens. The descriptions of the settings and of the internal struggles of the four denizens are admirably formulated, and there's a satisfying ending to this uniquely Manhattan saga.

[castlelass · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book starts with a girl on a bridge. A man has jumped. Stan and his wife, Karen, both in a drunken state, almost hit her, and in doing so, their lives change. They call Stan’s twin brother, Pickle, a policeman, to get them out of trouble. They take the girl, Junie, into their home. They try to stop drinking. Pickle decides to pursue a romance with Junie, even though she has just experienced a major trauma. It also contains an awkward love triangle. The characters’ backstories are imparted through flashbacks.

This story sets a new bar for unlikeable characters, though I did like the dog. I can deal with unlikeable characters if there is some underlying thought-provoking message, but I didn’t find such a message here. The usual contemporary sensationalistic themes are included: vulgarity, graphic sex, drugs, psychopathic behavior, infidelity, greed, control, abuse, and disturbing childhood memories. I usually like character studies, but this one tries to tackle too many dysfunctions, and, in the end, I didn’t feel did a good job with any of them. The attributes discussed in relation to suicide were particularly ill-informed and distasteful to me. It will likely engender strong feelings of either like or dislike.

I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher via NetGalley. It is scheduled to be published on April 9, 2019.