The Whole Animal by Corinna Chong

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.

ThroughoutThe 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 bodybuilding.

With strange juxtapositions, beguiling dark humour, and lurid imagery,The Whole Animalilluminates the everyday experiences of loneliness and loss, of self-alienation and self-discovery, that make us human. (From Arsenal Pulp Press)

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Originally from Calgary, Corinna Chong lives in Kelowna, B.C. and teaches English and fine arts at Okanagan College. She published her first novelBelinda's Ringsin 2013.Her short fiction has been published in magazines across Canada, including The Malahat Review, Room, Grain and The Humber Literary Review.

In 2021, she won theCBC Short Story PrizeforKids in Kindergarten, which appears inThe Whole Animal.