Butler is a writer that seems to enjoy taking challenges, and Fair Warning is no exception. Francis Ford Coppola hired him to write a story about a female auctioneer for a magazine. Later, Butler expanded the story into 225 pages. He does an amazing job writing from a female perspective.
The main character, Amy Dickinson, is the star auctioneer at Nichols and Gray. We follow her as her company is in the process of being sold, and as she begins a relationship with the French businessman who is purchasing the company. Also, at the same time her life seems to be coming together, the lives of her sister and her mother are falling apart. Her sister, who has a picture perfect family, is getting a divorce, and her mother is still dealing with the death of her husband.
But between the development of the plot, Amy describes lots of things. Things she's auctioning, things in her apartment, hands of her lovers, and even cities. (Houston, New York, and Paris.) Butler's description technique is perfect. It's never too over the top, and he uses amazing imagery.
Amy also reflects on what it means to collect things, what it means to own things, what it means to be owned, and what it takes to own yourself.
Fair Warning is definitely a book that will make you think, and perhaps even make you look at your life in a different way.
