-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Knife throwers. Ominous fortresses. Angry mimes. Snack festivals. Morose contortionists. Guillotines. Smiling journalists. Lonely young women. Lingering hope. Incompetence. Desperation. Funny disguises.
Plus two hardcover books in a gold-encrusted slipcase, twenty full-color illustrations, and an unprecedented feat of interactive book design.
A hapless circus troupe tours the countryside of a downtrodden nation, trying to earn a living the best way they know - even though their best isn't very good at all: a morose contortionist, a strongman who'd rather be miming, a lion tamer paired with an elderly dog, etc. Toward the end of a typically glum performance, Zloty Kornblatt, the troupe's ringmaster, accidentally blunders into a mockery of the nation's glorious leader. He doesn't even know why the sparse crowd is laughing, but they are - and so he continues with the inadvertent satire, ending the show on a rare triumphant note.
The confused ringmaster is quickly captured, thrown into prison, and sentenced to death. The troupe must design an intricate prison-break built around their unique (and possibly useless) skills. Hijinks ensue, recounted with deadpan humor and flickering hope by Flora Bialy, Zloty's understudy and our shy narrator.
"[An] absurd and whimsical story, a novel of pure invention, marked by Horowitz's obvious delight in devising weird names, outlandish pickled-food recipes, and bizarre judicial practices." - Publishers weekly
"This novel takes absurdity to new heights." - Booklist
"'Nonsense had gotten us this far,' Flora enthuses, as their plot comes together. But nonsense only goes so far. Half-baked Orwell." - Kirkus Reviews
"A Roald Dahl-via-Kafka-esque fable for the digital age." - Slate
"The Pickle Index is full of life and everything else — it's rowdy and sweaty and heartbreaking, and by heartbreaking I mean funny, and by funny I mean laugh-until-you're-exhausted-and-leaking-and-hungry. I've tasted the tedfruits and the breadbread, the Basement Gherks and the Kelp Rompers and the wall of ham. Meet me in Outer Spagg — I'm never coming back." - Miranda July
This information about The Pickle Index was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Eli Horowitz is the coauthor of The Silent History, a digital novel; The Clock Without a Face, a treasure-hunt mystery; and Everything You Know Is Pong, an illustrated cultural history of table tennis. Previously, he was the managing editor and then publisher of McSweeney's; his design work has been honored by I.D., Print, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He lives in Northern California.
If you liked The Pickle Index, try these:
by Dan Chaon
Published 2026
A playfully macabre and utterly thrilling tale about orphaned twins on the run from their murderous uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival, from a master of literary horror.
by Michael Honig
Published 2017
A biting satire of a particular despot and a deeply humane allegory of the fragility of goodness and the contagion of unchecked power.
by Kirsty Logan
Published 2015
For readers of The Night Circus and Station Eleven, a lyrical and absorbing debut set in a world covered by water.
A book is one of the most patient of all man's inventions.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
