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Praise for Robert Olen Butler: Butler's prose is fluid, and his handling of his many time-shifts as lucid as it is urgent. His descriptive gifts don't extend just to his characters' traits or their Florida and New Orleans settings, but to the history he's addressing . . . 'You share a war in one way, ' Robert thinks. 'You pass it on in another.' Perfume River captures both the agony and subtlety of how that happens. --New York Times Book Review, on Perfume River Butler roves gracefully . . . across the perspectives of many characters, showing particular tenderness. --New Yorker, on Perfume River No synopsis can convey the deceptive richness of Butler's storytelling. The writing style, precise and beautiful, discloses more than the simple surface action of any one passage . . . [A] quietly bristling book . . . Perfume River tells a human story that sums up in an entire era of American life. --Miami Herald, on Perfume River The story builds its force with great care . . . Its power is that we want to keep reading. The entire journey is masterfully rendered, Butler lighting a path back into the cave, completely unafraid. --Washington Post, on Perfume River Butler's assured, elegant novel explores a family fractured by the Vietnam War as its members face the losses of age . . . Eddying fluidly through its half-century span, the book speaks eloquently of the way the past bleeds into the present, history reverberates through individual lives, and mortality challenges our perceptions of ourselves and others. --Publishers Weekly, on Perfume River The climactic scene . . . is devastating and beautifully written. Many weighty themes . . . the shadow of Vietnam, the push and pull of father-son relationships, the pitfalls of long-term marriages, and the psychic toll of aging . . . Butler pulls it all together into a story that's both complex and meaningful. --Kirkus Reviews, on Perfume River What I so like about Perfume River is its plainly-put elegance. Enough time has passed since Viet Nam that its grave human lessons and heartbreaks can be--with a measure of genius--almost simply stated. Butler's novel is a model for this heartbreaking simplicity and grace. --Richard Ford, on Perfume River Butler does a terrific job of depicting both the journalist's facility for teasing information from his subjects and the spy's incessant fear of being discovered. There's something almost magical about the way the author re-creates this 1915 milieu. --Wall Street Journal, on The Empire of Night This high-spirited adventure by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler is an antic concoction of genre cliches, literary sendups, personal homages, fanciful history and passages of great writing. --New York Times Book Review, on The Hot Country [Butler's] writing is both crisp and thoughtful, his people ring true and he offers an amusing portrait of a golden age in journalism. --Washington Post, on The Hot Country Butler's elegant writing elevates the book . . . he is a master of everything from lyrical description to believable dialogue. --Tampa Bay Times, on The Empire of Night A smart and layered yarn . . . propulsive reading . . . Butler has developed a knack for snapping off taut, Hammett-esque sentences at tense moments. --Minneapolis Star Tribune, on The Empire of Night The novel commingles character-driven historical fiction with melodrama. . . [Butler] holds the reader transfixed, like a kid at a Saturday matinee. --Booklist (starred review), on The Star of Istanbul Robert Olen Butler is having fun in The Hot Country and readers will too. An intelligent entertainment with colorful history. --Joseph Kanon, on The Hot Country

Praise for Robert Olen Butler: a oeButlera (TM)s prose is fluid, and his handling of his many time-shifts as lucid as it is urgent. His descriptive gifts dona (TM)t extend just to his charactersa (TM) traits or their Florida and New Orleans settings, but to the history hea (TM)s addressing . . . a ~You share a war in one way, a (TM) Robert thinks. a ~You pass it on in another.a (TM) Perfume River captures both the agony and subtlety of how that happens.a a -New York Times Book Review, on Perfume River a oeButler roves gracefully . . . across the perspectives of many characters, showing particular tenderness.a a -New Yorker, on Perfume River a oeNo synopsis can convey the deceptive richness of Butlera (TM)s storytelling. The writing style, precise and beautiful, discloses more than the simple surface action of any one passage . . . [A] quietly bristling book . . . Perfume River tells a human story that sums up in an entire era of American life.a a -Miami Herald, on Perfume River a oeThe story builds its force with great care . . . Its power is that we want to keep reading. The entire journey is masterfully rendered, Butler lighting a path back into the cave, completely unafraid.a a -Washington Post, on Perfume River a oeButlera (TM)s assured, elegant novel explores a family fractured by the Vietnam War as its members face the losses of age . . . Eddying fluidly through its half-century span, the book speaks eloquently of the way the past bleeds into the present, history reverberates through individual lives, and mortality challenges our perceptions of ourselves and others.a a -Publishers Weekly, on Perfume River a oeThe climactic scene . . . is devastating and beautifully written. Many weighty themes . . . the shadow of Vietnam, the push and pull of father-son relationships, the pitfalls of long-term marriages, and the psychic toll of aging . . . Butler pulls it all together into a story thata (TM)s both complex and meaningful.a a -Kirkus Reviews, on Perfume River a oeWhat I so like about Perfume River is its plainly-put elegance. Enough time has passed since Viet Nam that its grave human lessons and heartbreaks can bea -with a measure of geniusa -almost simply stated. Butlera (TM)s novel is a model for this heartbreaking simplicity and grace.a a -Richard Ford, on Perfume River a oeButler does a terrific job of depicting both the journalista (TM)s facility for teasing information from his subjects and the spya (TM)s incessant fear of being discovered. Therea (TM)s something almost magical about the way the author re-creates this 1915 milieu.a a Wall Street Journal, on The Empire of Night a oeThis high-spirited adventure by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler is an antic concoction of genre clichA(c)s, literary sendups, personal homages, fanciful history and passages of great writing.a a New York Times Book Review, on The Hot Country a oe[Butlera (TM)s] writing is both crisp and thoughtful, his people ring true and he offers an amusing portrait of a golden age in journalism.a a Washington Post, on The Hot Country a oeButlera (TM)s elegant writing elevates the booka he is a master of everything from lyrical description to believable dialogue.a a Tampa Bay Times, on The Empire of Night a oeA smart and layered yarn . . . propulsive reading . . . Butler has developed a knack for snapping off taut, Hammett-esque sentences at tense moments.a a Minneapolis Star Tribune, on The Empire of Night a oeThe novel commingles character-driven historical fiction with melodrama. . . [Butler] holds the reader transfixed, like a kid at a Saturday matinee.a a Booklist (starred review), on The Star of Istanbul a oeRobert Olen Butler is having fun in The Hot Country and readers will too. An intelligent entertainment with colorful history.a a Joseph Kanon, on The Hot Country

Praise for Late City: With two dozen remarkably imaginative and empathic fiction titles to his credit, Butler brings preternatural attunement to the spiraling of the mind and ardently honed artistry to this exceptionally nuanced, tender, funny, tragic, and utterly transfixing portrait of a man reflecting on more than a century's worth of horror and wonder. --Booklist, starred review A moving tape of love and misunderstanding. --Publishers Weekly Praise for Robert Olen Butler: Butler's prose is fluid, and his handling of his many time-shifts as lucid as it is urgent. His descriptive gifts don't extend just to his characters' traits or their Florida and New Orleans settings, but to the history he's addressing . . . 'You share a war in one way, ' Robert thinks. 'You pass it on in another.' Perfume River captures both the agony and subtlety of how that happens. --New York Times Book Review, on Perfume River Butler roves gracefully . . . across the perspectives of many characters, showing particular tenderness. --New Yorker, on Perfume River No synopsis can convey the deceptive richness of Butler's storytelling. The writing style, precise and beautiful, discloses more than the simple surface action of any one passage . . . [A] quietly bristling book . . . Perfume River tells a human story that sums up in an entire era of American life. --Miami Herald, on Perfume River The story builds its force with great care . . . Its power is that we want to keep reading. The entire journey is masterfully rendered, Butler lighting a path back into the cave, completely unafraid. --Washington Post, on Perfume River Butler's assured, elegant novel explores a family fractured by the Vietnam War as its members face the losses of age . . . Eddying fluidly through its half-century span, the book speaks eloquently of the way the past bleeds into the present, history reverberates through individual lives, and mortality challenges our perceptions of ourselves and others. --Publishers Weekly, on Perfume River The climactic scene . . . is devastating and beautifully written. Many weighty themes . . . the shadow of Vietnam, the push and pull of father-son relationships, the pitfalls of long-term marriages, and the psychic toll of aging . . . Butler pulls it all together into a story that's both complex and meaningful. --Kirkus Reviews, on Perfume River What I so like about Perfume River is its plainly-put elegance. Enough time has passed since Viet Nam that its grave human lessons and heartbreaks can be--with a measure of genius--almost simply stated. Butler's novel is a model for this heartbreaking simplicity and grace. --Richard Ford, on Perfume River Butler does a terrific job of depicting both the journalist's facility for teasing information from his subjects and the spy's incessant fear of being discovered. There's something almost magical about the way the author re-creates this 1915 milieu. --Wall Street Journal, on The Empire of Night This high-spirited adventure by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler is an antic concoction of genre cliches, literary sendups, personal homages, fanciful history and passages of great writing. --New York Times Book Review, on The Hot Country [Butler's] writing is both crisp and thoughtful, his people ring true and he offers an amusing portrait of a golden age in journalism. --Washington Post, on The Hot Country Butler's elegant writing elevates the book . . . he is a master of everything from lyrical description to believable dialogue. --Tampa Bay Times, on The Empire of Night A smart and layered yarn . . . propulsive reading . . . Butler has developed a knack for snapping off taut, Hammett-esque sentences at tense moments. --Minneapolis Star Tribune, on The Empire of Night The novel commingles character-driven historical fiction with melodrama. . . [Butler] holds the reader transfixed, like a kid at a Saturday matinee. --Booklist (starred review), on The Star of Istanbul Robert Olen Butler is having fun in The Hot Country and readers will too. An intelligent entertainment with colorful history. --Joseph Kanon, on The Hot Country

Praise for Robert Olen Butler: Butler's prose is fluid, and his handling of his many time-shifts as lucid as it is urgent. His descriptive gifts don't extend just to his characters' traits or their Florida and New Orleans settings, but to the history he's addressing . . . ~You share a war in one way, ' Robert thinks. ~You pass it on in another.' Perfume River captures both the agony and subtlety of how that happens. -New York Times Book Review, on Perfume River Butler roves gracefully . . . across the perspectives of many characters, showing particular tenderness. -New Yorker, on Perfume River No synopsis can convey the deceptive richness of Butler's storytelling. The writing style, precise and beautiful, discloses more than the simple surface action of any one passage . . . [A] quietly bristling book . . . Perfume River tells a human story that sums up in an entire era of American life. -Miami Herald, on Perfume River The story builds its force with great care . . . Its power is that we want to keep reading. The entire journey is masterfully rendered, Butler lighting a path back into the cave, completely unafraid. -Washington Post, on Perfume River Butler's assured, elegant novel explores a family fractured by the Vietnam War as its members face the losses of age . . . Eddying fluidly through its half-century span, the book speaks eloquently of the way the past bleeds into the present, history reverberates through individual lives, and mortality challenges our perceptions of ourselves and others. -Publishers Weekly, on Perfume River The climactic scene . . . is devastating and beautifully written. Many weighty themes . . . the shadow of Vietnam, the push and pull of father-son relationships, the pitfalls of long-term marriages, and the psychic toll of aging . . . Butler pulls it all together into a story that's both complex and meaningful. -Kirkus Reviews, on Perfume River What I so like about Perfume River is its plainly-put elegance. Enough time has passed since Viet Nam that its grave human lessons and heartbreaks can be -with a measure of genius -almost simply stated. Butler's novel is a model for this heartbreaking simplicity and grace. -Richard Ford, on Perfume River Butler does a terrific job of depicting both the journalist's facility for teasing information from his subjects and the spy's incessant fear of being discovered. There's something almost magical about the way the author re-creates this 1915 milieu. -Wall Street Journal, on The Empire of Night This high-spirited adventure by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler is an antic concoction of genre clichA(c)s, literary sendups, personal homages, fanciful history and passages of great writing. -New York Times Book Review, on The Hot Country [Butler's] writing is both crisp and thoughtful, his people ring true and he offers an amusing portrait of a golden age in journalism. -Washington Post, on The Hot Country Butler's elegant writing elevates the book-he is a master of everything from lyrical description to believable dialogue. -Tampa Bay Times, on The Empire of Night A smart and layered yarn . . . propulsive reading . . . Butler has developed a knack for snapping off taut, Hammett-esque sentences at tense moments. -Minneapolis Star Tribune, on The Empire of Night The novel commingles character-driven historical fiction with melodrama. . . [Butler] holds the reader transfixed, like a kid at a Saturday matinee. -Booklist (starred review), on The Star of Istanbul Robert Olen Butler is having fun in The Hot Country and readers will too. An intelligent entertainment with colorful history. -Joseph Kanon, on The Hot Country

Author Information

Robert Olen Butler is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of eighteen previous novels, including Hell, A Small Hotel, and Perfume River. He is also the author of six short story collections and a book on the creative process, From Where You Dream. He has twice won a National Magazine Award in Fiction and received the 2013 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University.

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