''The Death of Bunny Munro'' is a 2009 novel written by Nick Cave, best known as the lead singer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It is his second and most recent novel, the first being '' And the Ass Saw the Angel'', published in 1989.

Synopsis

The novel deals with Bunny Munro, a middle-aged

lothario Lothario is a male given name that came to suggest an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in ''The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

, whose constant womanising and alcohol abuse comes to a head after his wife's suicide. A travelling door-to-door beauty-product salesman, he and his son go on an increasingly out-of-control road trip around Brighton, over which looms the shadow of a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

making his way towards Brighton, as well as Bunny's own mortality. The novel is set in Brighton in 2003, around the time the West Pier was destroyed by fire. Many of the locations and street names used in the book relate to real places close to Cave's own home.

Release

The novel was also released as an audiobook, using a

3D audio effect 3D audio effects are a group of sound effects that manipulate the sound produced by stereo speakers, surround-sound speakers, speaker-arrays, or headphones. This frequently involves the virtual placement of sound sources anywhere in three-dimensio ...

, produced and sound-directed by British artists

Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists and filmmakers. Life and work Forsyth and Pollard met and began working collaboratively while studying Fine Art and Art Theory at Goldsmiths College, graduating together in 1995. They initially f ...

, with a soundtrack by Nick Cave and

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

, and in a number of

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

formats, including an iPhone application that synchronised the audiobook with the text and included exclusive videos of Cave reading. A series of live events took place in late 2009 to promote the book under the title of "A Night with Nick Cave", combining music, readings and a Q&A session with the audience.

Reception

Nick Cave in New York City 2009 portrait 2

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

Neil Labute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, '' In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance F ...

and

David Peace David Peace (born 1967) is an English writer. Best known for his UK-set novels Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002), ''GB84'' (2004), ''The Damned Utd'' (2006), and ''Red or Dead'' (2013), Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novelis ...

have all touted the novel, providing back-cover reviews. Moreover, ''The Death of Bunny Munro'' has received strong reviews from the British media: Graeme Thomson (writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 6 September 2009) awarded the novel 4 stars out of 5. Likewise, the Saturday Times (on 5 September 2009) stated, in a very positive review, that the novel "reads like a good indie movie". The novel was nominated for the Literary Review's

Bad Sex in Fiction Award ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years by ...

, but did not win.

Publication history

*2009, UK,

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...

, , 3 Sep 2009, hardcover, 304pp *2009, USA

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

, , 1 Sep 2009, hardcover, 288 pp

References

External links

Official book websiteEnhanced Editions
iPhone App
Listening to Nick Cave read The Death of Bunny Munro
Audiobook review {{DEFAULTSORT:Death Of Bunny Munro 2009 British novels 2009 Australian novels Black comedy books British philosophical novels Novels set in Brighton Books by Nick Cave Canongate Books books