{"product_id":"severance-by-robert-olen-butler","title":"'Severance' by Robert Olen Butler","description":"\u003ch4 data-start=\"691\" data-end=\"1288\"\u003eRobert Olen Butler gives us a sequence of stories narrated in the final moments after decapitation — historical figures, fictional characters, mythic beings, nobodies, monsters, the lot.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"691\" data-end=\"1288\"\u003eThe formal trick is brutal and precise: each piece is exactly 240 words, built around the old claim that consciousness lingers briefly after the head is cut off. Critics and catalog copy consistently describe the book in those terms, and that severe premise is exactly what gives it its peculiar charge. \u003cspan class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1290\" data-end=\"1612\"\u003eButler turns a macabre constraint into something witty, grotesque, sad, and occasionally unexpectedly tender. It sits somewhere between flash fiction, black comedy, thought experiment, and cabinet of curiosities — the kind of book that earns its place through sheer nerve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1290\" data-end=\"1612\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChronicle Books hardcover edition, 2006. Dust jacket present. Great condition. First edition.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44325199544403,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Untitleddesign-2026-03-30T165638.485.png?v=1774850217","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/severance-by-robert-olen-butler","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}