Beautiful Ugly

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use and emotional abuse.

Beautiful Ugly uses Grady Green’s life as a reclusive writer to explore the psychological effects of isolation. As an author, Grady prioritizes his work over all else. He spends most of his time “on [his] own,” insisting “that [he] prefer[s] solitude” because he “need[s] quiet to write” (3). Over time, however, Grady’s self-isolating habits begin to disrupt his relationships and distort his grasp of reality. He has “[his] characters for company” and comes to “prefer them to real people” because they “don’t lie” (3). He pushes everyone away and becomes absorbed in the fictional worlds he creates. Grady hides himself away from the world, using his writing career as an excuse to avoid developing relationships and investing in his marriage. At their peak, his distance from reality and removal from his wife cause him to attempt to kill her—a crime he swears he doesn’t remember. Through Grady’s complex psychological experience, the novel suggests that isolation estranges the individual from real forms of connection and distorts behavior in dangerous ways.

Grady’s self-imposed detachment increases after Abby’s disappearance and worsens further when he reaches the