Description
Book SynopsisLiterary crime novel populated by French Surrealist authors of the twenties; characters include imagined versions of André Breton, Georges Bataille, Antonin Artaud, Guillaume Apollinaire (changed to be an old woman), Robert Desnos, Louis Aragon (changed to be a young woman with cool hair), Jacques Prevert and Michel Simon. Pillow is a twist on the anti-hero that looms so large in the cultural imagination right now (Tao Lin's novels, True Detective, The Knick). In fact, he's an anti-anti-hero: a sweet, pleasant person with an original mind who nonetheless engages in sketchy and immoral behaviour. Written in the weirdo-whimsical vein of, say, Miranda July or Sheila Heti, moreso than the tough men despairing things in short sentences vein of, say, Dennis Lehane, which is what you usually get in literary crimeland. With echoes of an Elmore Leonard thriller: funny, and driven by colorful characters. Boxing subculture is well-connected and generally hungry for reasonably intelligent writing. Author's sister is Claire Battershill, author of Circus (McClelland & Stewart, 2014) winner of the CBC Literary Award for Short Fiction.
Trade Review'Wildly effervescent. The dialogue, the pacing, the plot: it sizzles, it sparkles. Pillow is a hilarious, humane, fearsomely original novel by a young novelist — this Andrew Battershill; this wet-behind-the-ears rookie! - who writes with such skill and daring that you'd think this was his tenth book rather than his debut.' – Craig Davidson, author of Rust and Bone and Cataract City 'The author's use of metaphor and imagery is exquisite; he plays with surrealism with such a light step so as to appear effortlessas if it were an entirely common extension of hardboiled crime fiction. This debut is accomplished and highly entertaining.' – Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'A sturdy, traditional heist-and-double-cross plot anchors the various odd elements of this intriguing, funny, and effective debut.' – National Post 'A fresh, incredibly smart take on literary crime.' – The Globe and Mail
'Wildly effervescent. The dialogue, the pacing, the plot: it sizzles, it sparkles. Pillow is a hilarious, humane, fearsomely original novel by a young novelist — this Andrew Battershill; this wet-behind-the-ears rookie! - who writes with such skill and daring that you'd think this was his tenth book rather than his debut.' – Craig Davidson, author of Rust and Bone and Cataract City 'The author's use of metaphor and imagery is exquisite; he plays with surrealism with such a light step so as to appear effortless—as if it were an entirely common extension of hardboiled crime fiction. This debut is accomplished and highly entertaining.' – Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'A sturdy, traditional heist-and-double-cross plot anchors the various odd elements of this intriguing, funny, and effective debut.' – National Post 'A fresh, incredibly smart take on literary crime.' – The Globe and Mail
