{"product_id":"vivisectors-novel-missouri-williams-9780374619299","title":"The Vivisectors | Missouri Williams","description":"\u003csection class=\"product-description\" style=\"color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6;\"\u003e\n  \u003ch2 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.75em; margin-bottom: 15px; border-bottom: 2px solid #2c3e50; padding-bottom: 5px;\"\u003eThe Vivisectors: A Novel\u003c\/h2\u003e\n  \n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eExtended Synopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"\u003eIn a famed but crumbling university city overrun by nature, power is held in a fragile balance between academics and a contingent of rogue gardeners. \u003cem\u003eThe Vivisectors\u003c\/em\u003e follows a reclusive graduate student, bogged down by caring for her once-estranged, paralyzed mother while spending her days propping up the career of her needy and fraudulent professor boss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"\u003eHer careful routine is violently ruptured when Adam, a contrarian student and an obsession of her boss, comes into a heated conflict with a young professor. Both men claim discrimination, setting off a crisis that subsumes the entire university. Despite her profound lack of engagement with the world—a detachment so deep that not even her mother's attempted suicide can dispel it—she is commanded by her boss to befriend Adam. Soon, she finds herself caught in the escalating political and societal decay threatening to tear the city apart, increasingly drawn to the alluring student at the heart of the chaos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"\u003eCoursing with icy suspense and told with violent precision, this surreal, allegorical campus novel offers a sharp, darkly brilliant exploration of alienation. It is a spiky spiritual reckoning and a new kind of love story for an age of deteriorated communication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMissouri Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e is an acclaimed author known for her unsparing style and profound intellectual ambition. Following her award-winning debut, \u003cem\u003eThe Doloriad\u003c\/em\u003e, which was celebrated as a striking provocation, Williams continues to establish herself as a major literary voice. She deftly holds a mirror up to humanity’s most intimate contradictions, writing with a gothic angularity that distinctively sets her apart in contemporary fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eReader Targeting\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cul style=\"margin-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px;\"\u003e\n    \u003cli style=\"margin-bottom: 5px;\"\u003eFans of surreal, dark literary fiction and allegorical romance.\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli style=\"margin-bottom: 5px;\"\u003eReaders who enjoy campus novels with complex political and societal undercurrents.\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli style=\"margin-bottom: 5px;\"\u003eAdmirers of gothic-infused, intellectually ambitious prose that explores alienation and the fragility of human communication.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eAccolades \u0026amp; Key Highlights\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cul style=\"margin-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px;\"\u003e\n    \u003cli style=\"margin-bottom: 5px;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMajor Anticipation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Named one of \u003cem\u003eVulture's\u003c\/em\u003e Most Anticipated Books of 2026.\u003c\/li\u003e\n    \u003cli style=\"margin-bottom: 5px;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCritical Acclaim:\u003c\/strong\u003e Praised by Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch as the work of \"a major writer for our age.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eBibliographic \u0026amp; Physical Specifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"table-responsive\" style=\"overflow-x: auto; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 25px; -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n    \u003ctable style=\"width: 100%; min-width: 650px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 0.95em; table-layout: fixed;\"\u003e\n      \u003cthead\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"background-color: #f8f9fa; border-bottom: 2px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 12px 10px; color: #2c3e50; width: 30%; font-weight: bold;\"\u003eSpecification\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 12px 10px; color: #2c3e50; width: 70%; font-weight: bold;\"\u003eDetails\u003c\/th\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003c\/thead\u003e\n      \u003ctbody\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003e9780374619299\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003ePublisher\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eFarrar, Straus and Giroux (MCD)\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003ePublication Date\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eMay 26, 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eEdition\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eHardcover Edition\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eFormat\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eHardcover (Hardbound, Dust Jacket Included)\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003ePage Count\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003e288\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eBISAC \/ BIC\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eFICTION \/ Literary; FICTION \/ Coming of Age; Modern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (FYB); Literary fiction (FB)\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n        \u003ctr style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\"\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: left; padding: 10px; background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #2c3e50; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;\"\u003eDimensions \u0026amp; Weight\u003c\/th\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"padding: 10px; color: #1a1a1a; vertical-align: top;\"\u003e8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches \/ 13.6 oz\u003c\/td\u003e\n        \u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n    \u003c\/table\u003e\n  \u003c\/div\u003e\n\n  \u003ch3 style=\"color: #2c3e50; font-size: 1.25em; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003eFrequently Asked Questions\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhere does The Vivisectors take place?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe novel is set in a famed but crumbling university city that has been reclaimed by nature and rogue gardeners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat initiates the central conflict in the book?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe crisis begins when Adam, a contrarian student, comes into heated conflict with a young professor, with both men claiming discrimination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat are the main themes of the story?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe novel explores themes of societal decay, alienation, the fragility of human communication, and the complex power dynamics within academia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cscript type=\"application\/ld+json\"\u003e\n  {\n    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n    \"@graph\": [\n      {\n        \"@type\": [\"Book\", \"Product\"],\n        \"@id\": \"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/vivisectors-novel-missouri-williams-9780374619299#book\",\n        \"name\": \"The Vivisectors: A Novel\",\n        \"author\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Person\",\n          \"name\": \"Missouri Williams\"\n        },\n        \"description\": \"Missouri Williams crafts a surreal campus novel in The Vivisectors. 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