Kirshenbaum is such a talented writer. The main character, Bunny, is clinically depressed and while out on New Years Eve, deliberately and physically hurts herself. She lands up in a New York mental institution.
Rather than prescribe to standard treatment, she decides to chronicle the lives of those people around her who are at a standstill. What's especially commendable about this story is the author's sensitive writing about her fellow patients. She made sure to present them as true individuals that are truly suffering.
She writes with humor about a subject that doesn't conjure up humor and does so in a thought-provoking memorable manner.

This book had a profound effect on me — would like to have Kirshenbaum’s likeness on a holy card. "Rabbits" truly captures the despair of mental illness — didn’t want it to end.

Things have been getting worse for Bunny, given this name because her parents raised rabbits, and now, New Year’s Eve is approaching. Like every year, Bunny and her husband Albie will take part in the mandatory dinner with people they call their “friends” even though they don’t see them any other evening of the year due to obvious reasons. Albie would be fine to stay at home, but Bunny knows that even though she feels depressed, she needs to play along. But then, the worst case happens: she breaks down and finds herself in a psych ward.

The novel is divided into two parts: before and after, just like people who have a breakdown or have to live through a life-changing event, divide their life. For me personally, the two parts are so different that it is not easy to come to one conclusion in the end. I’d say: thumbs-up for the first half of the novel, but a strong trigger warning for the second.

Even though the protagonist is highly depressed and struggles with the smallest everyday actions, I found the beginning of the book often very funny since the author is a master of irony and a humour that I really liked. There are so many brilliant phrases, it was a great joy to read even though Bunny’s suffering is almost overwhelming. You slowly approach the climax, New Year’s Eve, and you know that something big is going to happen, thus the suspense becomes almost unbearable.

When Bunny is hospitalised, her welcome there still has some funny aspects, but only until the laughter gets stuck in your throat and Bunny’s life becomes utterly horrible. I have read several novels about psycho wards, “One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Girl, interrupted”, which were not easy to support, but admittedly, more than once I was close to just stopping reading because I could hardly stand what the nurses and doctors there do to the patients. I hope that this is not reality – even though I fear that it might come much closer than anybody from the outside world would dream. No, what Bunny has to endure in hospital is not something nice and there is no need to embellish anything, but admittedly who could ever turn to such a place to find help?

Binnie Kirshenbaum surely is a remarkable and highly gifted writer, yet, this novel definitely should be accompanied by a warning.

RABBITS FOR FOOD was a dark, strange journey through the the mind of a woman named Bunny who, unfortunately, is losing her mind. There isn’t much in the way of a plot, but the dark humor, compelling characters, and shocking twists make it a somewhat worthwhile read.

Binnie Kirshenbaum's new book features a writer, named Bunny, and her husband, Albie. The couple lives in the rarified world of New York intellectuals with money. Bunny is depressed and rarely participates in life. She stays in bed, doesn't shower or go out except to see a psychiatrist who is there to prescribe drugs.

On New Year's Eve, Bunny insists that she and Albie attend the yearly dinner held by their friends in an expensive restaurant. After listening to the banal and superficial conversation for a while, Bunny combusts. This show of life lands her in the ER and ultimately in a locked ward on a psychiatric floor. Her rarified world comes to an abrupt end with all privileges removed.

BK has given us a brilliantly written description of what mental illness does to people and how it can be kind of funny but very sad. It is a book that can teach us a little about living or a whole lot about letting it all go to waste.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this novel.

Rabbits for Food is a compelling visit in the mind of a woman living with mental illness. Readers see how her depression affects her ordinary conflicts and concerns, can sharpen her wit, confuse her perceptions and upend her relationships. Bunny will make readers laugh and wince in equal turn, finding themselves frustrated by and for her. This one sticks with you, especially that last sentence.

I enjoyed this very much - there were some stylistic choices that felt pretentious (like shifting from third to first person) but overall I tore through it. A mental illness book that doesn't claim to have any answers, which I really appreciate. It flips back and forth through time in the story of Bunny, whose name and profession aren't dissimilar from the author's, and her decline into depression and suicidal ideation. Bunny feels like a real person - funny but exhausting, and somebody who never learned what not to say out loud to people.

Do yourself a favor and read this book as soon as it comes out. I could not put this book down; I was enjoying it so much. If you’re someone who’s ever struggled with mental health, or even if you haven’t, you will relate to Bunny’s logical and witty interpretation of the people and world around her. I laughed at her intelligent and dry humor, cried with her during “treatment” (her air quotes), and felt utter despair when I reached the end of the book. It’s not often a book makes me feel the way this one did. It’s a phenomenal work.

I can’t help but draw some parallels to the authors real life... similar name, same career, and I’m pretty sure she used real scathing reviews of her last books in this book as an example of reviews for Bunny’s writing.

Thank you to netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Harrowing, brilliantly-written account of one woman's experience of major depression and her subsequent stay in a psychiatric hospital. Engrossing and very sad, pulls no punches in detailing depressive episodes, the relationships that suffer from her own suffering, and relationships formed with other patients and doctors in the hospital. No happy ending, no sugar coating. Honest and brutal.