Change can be as miraculous as a
butterfly emerging from a chrysalis … or as surreal as a wild
landscape sprouting highways and leapfrog
subdivisions.
John Nichols’ newest work of
fiction, The Voice of the Butterfly, is a
hyperactive meditation on transformation in our post-modern,
uber-consumption world. Full of gritty slapstick zen, Nichols’
morality play pulls no punches.
Suicide City is
the setting, and the Rocky Mountain Phistic Copper butterfly is the
cause. A proposed highway bypass through pristine butterfly
breeding grounds is the threat. And the unlikely hero is Charley
McFarland, aging hippie and ringleader of the wildly dysfunctional
Butterfly Coalition. The enemies? Well, in Nichols’ darkly comic
world it’s no accident that many of the town leaders plotting the
“progress” of Suicide City are part of the death industry – namely,
undertakers and mortuary owners – though, of course, the conspiracy
also includes seedy politicos and real estate moguls. For Nichols
fans, the ensuing brawl is worth the price of
admission.
More than 10 years in the works,
The Voice of the Butterfly seems at times less
like a traditional novel than a melange of superhero comics
authored by Hunter S. Thompson while under the curse of Lono. Never
fear, Nichols’ trademark rants and snappy dialogue survive his
stylistic experiments. As does his stubborn belief in the need to
transform anger and despair over mindless, destructive profiteering
into hopeful action. The Voice of the
Butterfly, by John Nichols. Chronicle Books, 2001, 240
pages. Hardcover: $24.95.
Copyright ©
2001 HCN and Renee
Guillory
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Voice of the Butterfly.
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