PopSugar’s “26 Incredible New Books Coming Your Way This August”
Good Morning America’s “25 Novels You’ll Want To Read This Summer”
In this “dazzling debut” (Publishers Weekly), the moving story of one man’s quest for happiness is interwoven with speculative tales of the Before and After, resulting in a profound yet playful literary journey into the ache and wonder of being human.
In the Before, humankind is created with a hole in its heart, the designers not realizing their mistake—if it was a mistake—until too late.
Elliot Chance is just a boy, and knows nothing of this. All he knows is that he doesn’t feel at home in this world, and his desire for escape becomes more urgent as he grows into adulthood, where the turbulence of life seems to offer no cure for the emptiness. Desperate and lost, he stumbles upon a support group on the edge of Manhattan. There he meets two other drifting souls—Sasha, a young woman who leaves coded messages in the copy she writes for advertising campaigns, and Bannor, whose detailed depictions of the future make Elliot think he may have actually been there. With these two unlikely allies, Elliot launches into the business of life, determined to be happy in spite of himself.
Yet the hole in the heart is not so easily filled.
Praise for Before You Go
“Beautiful, heart-wrenching prose. . . . Butler’s treatise on the value of life with all its moments of darkness and light leaves the reader with aching gratitude for their existence."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Alluring. Magical. And painfully real. Will make your heart ache in all the right ways. A triumph for all of us who’ve suspected there’s something missing deep within."
—Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook
This book blew me away . . . Butler has this incredible way of writing that pulls you in to even the most mundane-seeming experience, and makes you realize it’s actually quite profound.”
“In Before You Go, Tommy Butler binds together magic and reality; wit and sincerity; big questions and small moments; deep sadness and an aching, rising joy. The result is a kaleidoscope of a novel that honors the complexity of life.”
—Katie Williams, author of Tell the Machine Goodnight
“This story is truly breathtaking. A compelling journey I began and never wanted to end.”
“What a read! Meditative and beautiful. The mix of magical elements and harsh reality was so well balanced. I can't wait to read what's next from this promising debut author. Perfect for fans of Kazuo Ishiguro or Aimee Bender.”
—Books Inc., Staff Pick
“Reader, prepare yourself to think outside the box! . . . Brilliant! The reader can’t help but examine his own life; loneliness, contentment, laughter, tears, pain, joy, chaos, calm. ALL OF IT! If given the chance, would you live life all over again?”
“There’s every good chance that, when they reach its final page, every reader of “Before You Go,” the bittersweet debut novel of Tommy Butler, will sit back, smile knowingly and realize they have completed one of the most satisfying novels of the year.”
—The Anniston Star
“Hats off to that brave soul daring to write what might be called speculative literary fiction, and willing to venture answers to questions beyond even those of life & death. Tommy Butler’s debut novel Before You Go has a big beating heart and a mind all its own.”
—Joshua Ferris, author of The Dinner Party and Then We Came to the End
“This thought-provoking, quick, soulful read is like having a philosophical heart-to-heart.”
—Good Morning America, 25 Novels You’ll Want to Read This Summer
“Tommy Butler’s Before You Go explores human longing in its many forms—desire, curiosity, ambition—and how it tethers us to this world. It asks not only why we keep going, but how. I came away from this book feeling renewed, and holding on to my own imperfect life more tightly and gratefully. Butler’s writing is insightful, quick-witted, and warm. What a marvelous debut.
—Maggie Smith, author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful
“Inventive and profound.”
“To explain how Butler’s cosmic story scaffolding is both more and less than it seems would constitute a string of spoilers. He uses various literary sleights of hand to draw his readers into a moving, decidedly realistic tale about one man’s search for the meaning of life and his dawning recognition that confusion and sadness are simply parts of the human experience. That hole in our hearts turns out to be all too real, but in Before You Go, there’s more than we ever dreamed of to fill it with.”
“This book is filling my empty space right now...”