Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A refreshingly original debut collection of short stories that grapple with the self-alienation and self-discovery that make us human.
For fans of Souvankham
Thammavongsa, Lynn Coady, and Lisa Moore comes a striking debut collection of
short stories that explore bodies both human and animal: our fascination with
their strange effluences, growths, and protrusions, and the dangerous ways we
play with their power to inflict harm on ourselves and on others.
Throughout The Whole Animal, flawed characters
wrestle with the complexities of relationships with partners, parents,
children, and friends as they struggle to find identity, belonging, and
autonomy. Bodies are divided, often elusive, even grotesque. In "Porcelain
Legs," a pre-teen fixes on the long, thick hair growing from her mother's eyelid.
In "Wolf-Boy Saturday," a linguist grasps for connection with a young boy whose
negligent upbringing has left him unable to speak. In "Butter Buns," a college
student sees his mother in a new light when she takes up body-building.
With strange
juxtapositions, beguiling dark humour, and lurid imagery, The Whole Animal illuminates
the everyday experiences of loneliness and loss, of self-alienation and self-discovery,
that make us human.