What do you think?
Rate this book
A Butterfly in Philadelphia
A RANDOM ACT OF CHAOS...
Spencer Casey is a 20-year-old high school dropout who works in a failing puzzle factory in Philadelphia, chopping up Masterpieces of Western Art into jigsaw puzzles. He is tired of being an effect instead of a cause. On the night before the factory is to close, inspired by the image of a butterfly flapping its wings in China, he scrambles the pieces of a painting called “Chaos Scape 19” and sends his own ripples of chaos into the world.
A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA is a satirical comic novel and at the same time a coming of age story for the two narrators, Spencer Casey and Lindsay Pangborn, who, like most young people, manage to navigate successfully through the chaos they inflict on the world.
Spencer Casey is a 20-year-old high school dropout who works in a failing puzzle factory in Philadelphia, chopping up Masterpieces of Western Art into jigsaw puzzles. He is tired of being an effect instead of a cause. On the night before the factory is to close, inspired by the image of a butterfly flapping its wings in China, he scrambles the pieces of a painting called “Chaos Scape 19” and sends his own ripples of chaos into the world.
A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA is a satirical comic novel and at the same time a coming of age story for the two narrators, Spencer Casey and Lindsay Pangborn, who, like most young people, manage to navigate successfully through the chaos they inflict on the world.
277 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 2015
38 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Hartman
17 books45 followersBruce Hartman has worked as a pianist, bookseller and attorney. The author of twelve novels, he divides his time between Pennsylvania and Colorado. He has been writing fiction for many years.
Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Best First Western Novel.
His second western to be published was THE DIVIDE, the second book in the Lost West Trilogy.
Prior to those westerns, his most recent book was THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE'S LAST CASE, the third and final book of the Philosphical Detective Trilogy. The previous books are THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE, published in 2014, and THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS, published in 2020. All three novels feature the iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrestling with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy, including Zeno's paradoxes, the mind/body problem, and the mysteries of destiny, memory, personal identity and artistic creation. Kirkus Reviews called THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE "a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel.. an intelligent, original detective novel." Midwest Book Review rated THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS as "...highly recommended for classic detective story enthusiasts who look for complexity and intellectual challenges in their characters and stories."
Bruce Hartman's previous book, PAROLE, is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard about an unlikely pair of parolees from San Quentin struggling against the odds to recover their lives and fortunes in L.A. If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller. It has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.
His first novel, PERFECTLY HEALTHY MAN DROPS DEAD, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008. In 2018 it was reissued by Swallow Tail Press in a revised Tenth Anniversary Edition (both paperback and ebook).
Bruce Hartman's second book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, published by Swallow Tail Press in 2013, was awarded Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit. Kirkus Reviews called it "a mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery" and selected it as one of its "Top 100 Indie Books of 2013." Another mystery, THE MUSE OF VIOLENCE, was also published in 2013.
Bruce Hartman's seventh novel, POTLATCH: A Comedy, is a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called it "one of the most amusing reads ever to be published."
POTLATCH is the second entry in a projected trilogy which began with A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called BUTTERFLY "one of the strange comic masterpieces that you're quite lucky to run across once in a very great while."
POTLATCH followed another comic novel, BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU!, a satirical techno-dystopia set in a future in which the all-powerful force of Big Data rules humanity through the Internet of Things and the corporate power of the FANGs. It is the story of how one defiant customer foils the conspiracy to delete humanity from Google Earth. A slightly revised version of this book has also been published under the title, I AM NOT A ROBOT!
Bruce Hartman's eighth novel, a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN, was published in 2018. This book tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter,
Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Best First Western Novel.
His second western to be published was THE DIVIDE, the second book in the Lost West Trilogy.
Prior to those westerns, his most recent book was THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE'S LAST CASE, the third and final book of the Philosphical Detective Trilogy. The previous books are THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE, published in 2014, and THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS, published in 2020. All three novels feature the iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrestling with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy, including Zeno's paradoxes, the mind/body problem, and the mysteries of destiny, memory, personal identity and artistic creation. Kirkus Reviews called THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE "a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel.. an intelligent, original detective novel." Midwest Book Review rated THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS as "...highly recommended for classic detective story enthusiasts who look for complexity and intellectual challenges in their characters and stories."
Bruce Hartman's previous book, PAROLE, is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard about an unlikely pair of parolees from San Quentin struggling against the odds to recover their lives and fortunes in L.A. If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller. It has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.
His first novel, PERFECTLY HEALTHY MAN DROPS DEAD, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008. In 2018 it was reissued by Swallow Tail Press in a revised Tenth Anniversary Edition (both paperback and ebook).
Bruce Hartman's second book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, published by Swallow Tail Press in 2013, was awarded Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit. Kirkus Reviews called it "a mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery" and selected it as one of its "Top 100 Indie Books of 2013." Another mystery, THE MUSE OF VIOLENCE, was also published in 2013.
Bruce Hartman's seventh novel, POTLATCH: A Comedy, is a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called it "one of the most amusing reads ever to be published."
POTLATCH is the second entry in a projected trilogy which began with A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called BUTTERFLY "one of the strange comic masterpieces that you're quite lucky to run across once in a very great while."
POTLATCH followed another comic novel, BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU!, a satirical techno-dystopia set in a future in which the all-powerful force of Big Data rules humanity through the Internet of Things and the corporate power of the FANGs. It is the story of how one defiant customer foils the conspiracy to delete humanity from Google Earth. A slightly revised version of this book has also been published under the title, I AM NOT A ROBOT!
Bruce Hartman's eighth novel, a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN, was published in 2018. This book tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter,
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 3, 2015
Spencer Casey is a simple man from Philadelphia who never made much of a difference. When his aunt Lorraine sees a job posting in the local hair salon, he takes the job hoping to get the attention of Monique, the salon owner’s daughter. She doesn’t seem to notice. Now, Artistic Puzzles Inc. pays Spencer to not make much of a difference, chopping Masterpieces of Western Art into a thousand pieces at a time. When he starts chopping up ‘Chaos Scape 19’ by Armand Brigantine –cut into the same thousand pieces every time. Chaos: faithfully reproduced and neatly separated into identical boxes– Spencer is overcome by a sudden urge. Audrey, the bookkeeper art Artistic Puzzles Inc., once said that ‘A butterfly in China can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world just by flapping its wings.’ If a butterfly in China can cause a hurricane, Spencer figures, a simple man from Philly could probably make a bit of ruckus…
A Butterfly in Philadelphia follows the stories of a handful of people who are forever changed by Spencer’s small act of rebellion. Hartman does an excellent job merging third-person narration with first-person, journal-type entries to really bring the characters to life. The story is far more complex than the cover would suggest and I often found myself wondering if it was even possible that it would all come together in the end. Everything did come together, and it did so in a very satisfying way. The wonderfully ironic subplots, some of which I had forgotten about, all found their way back into the story, leaving me smiling at the outcome. A Butterfly in Philadelphia is a witty, clever, well-written story that should be at the top of your ‘must read’ list.
Review by Donnie J Burgess. See additional notes on this title on my review page.
February 5, 2019
Normally I dislike books with multiple POVs. 2 is fine, but more than that gets complicated and often difficult to follow. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this was done. It was fascinating to see how one small action changed the course of so many lives. There were so many threads I really didn't know how on Earth it was all going to be tied together. Character development was minimal- really only what was necessary for the story. With so many characters I got a bit confused at times. All in all, not a bad book at all.
January 2, 2019
This book is a lot of fun. It reminds me a bit of Confederacy of Dunces in that it's a fast paced story with a multitude of colorful characters and quite a few laugh out loud moments. I didn't think it was a masterpiece in the same way that Dunces was, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to others looking for a solid comedic story.
November 12, 2018
Bizarrely funny
Moving on, this novel reads like slapstick.
I'm looking forward to the next installment.
A satirical comedy to find your fuunybone.
Moving on, this novel reads like slapstick.
I'm looking forward to the next installment.
A satirical comedy to find your fuunybone.
March 16, 2019
Clever story with some good messages. Lots of characters that are pretty well developed. Didn't really care for all the negative stereotyping of overweight people, but overall, a decent book.
May 28, 2015
Food and heat are major requirements for life. In Bruce Hartman’s hands, these two necessities become the backdrop for his wittiest novel thus far. Populated with multi-faceted characters, A Butterfly in Philadelphia is a seemingly chaotic aggregate, but like a jigsaw puzzle of a thousand pieces, it will eventually form an orderly landscape. The bonus, of course, is the underlying humanism Hartman always manages to inject into his novels. Whether we are reading about Lindsay’s dinner order of gluten-free water; Charlie’s kids smuggling donuts and Cokes into the classiest restaurant in Philly; or Charlie inhaling a cherry pie (that may be the grossest scene, yet is surprisingly touching as he cries), the action and emotional response from the reader never diminish until the last page. That is the food part. Now about the heat: I will not tell you why Spencer lives in a home where the thermostat is constantly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but I will say that my grandparents kept their South Philly home heated at 85 degrees in the winter and I will never forget this childhood horror. Naturally, I enjoyed these scenes the most. I think Hartman’s description of all who enter and abandon hope in that house will light the lamp of understanding and I am here to say that he does not exaggerate. A splendid story of shelter from the storminess of life!
Read
December 28, 2015I wanted to like this one...I've enjoyed this author's books in the past. There were some quirky characters that I found interesting, but I just kept drifting away....it could have been the timing. Life got busy, and I just never made it back into this story. I may pick it up again one day, and give it another go.
May 24, 2016
This is really a train wreck of a story: workers in a puzzle factory discover the far-reaching consequences of their actions when they scramble different jigsaw puzzles in the same boxes. The situations were so implausible that they almost became plausible again. I picked it up because Amazon reviews referenced the local color, but that wasn't enough to redeem this very strange novel.
April 27, 2015
This is the first non-mystery novel I have published. It's a satirical comic novel and at the same time a coming of age story, though not YA fiction because of some of the themes. Since I wrote it, all I can say is: Highly recommended!
May 31, 2016
A Butterfly in Philadelphia was a good light read for vacation. Sounds like there may be more of these stories about Spencer by the way the book ends. It was certainly a different way of writing from so many different viewpoints.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews