Monoceros - by Suzette Mayr (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Winner of the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize

Winner of the 2012 Relit Award for Best Novel

Longlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize

Shortlisted for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

Shortlisted for the Alberta Literary Award for Best Fiction

Shortlisted for the W.O. Mitchell Award for Best Calgary Fiction

A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2011

A seventeen-year-old boy, bullied and heartbroken, hangs himself. And although he felt terribly alone, his suicide changes everyone around him.

His parents are devastated. His secret boyfriend's girlfriend is relieved. His unicorn- and virginity-obsessed classmate, Faraday, is shattered; she wishes she had made friends with him that time she sold him an Iced Cappuccino at Tim Hortons. His English teacher, mid-divorce and mid-menopause, wishes she could remember the dead student's name, that she could care more about her students than her ex's new girlfriend. Who happens to be her cousin. The school guidance counselor, Walter, feels guilty--maybe he should have made an effort when the kid asked for help. Max, the principal, is worried about how it will reflect on the school. And Walter, who's secretly been in a relationship with Max for years, thinks that's a little callous. He's also tired of Max's obsession with some sci-fi show on TV. And Max wishes Walter would lose some weight and remember to use a coaster.

And then Max meets a drag queen named Crepe Suzette. And everything changes.

Suzette Mayr is the author of three previous novels: Moon Honey, The Widows, and Venous Hum. The Widows was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in the Canada-Caribbean region, and has been translated into German. Moon Honey was shortlisted for the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and the Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book. Suzette Mayr lives and works in Calgary, Alberta.

Review Quotes

'Spellbinding and playful ... A stylistic tour de force.' - National Post

'Monoceros is one of the most imaginative, quirky and emotionally devastating novels I've read in a long while.'
- Zoe Whittall, Globe and Mail'

'[A] smart and difficult tale about grief and acceptance ... [Monoceros] just might be the most important book you read.' - CBC Books

'In a tragedy laced with humour, Mayr engages readers with her meticulous attention to detail, providing vivid descriptions of not only her characters, but also the heavy emotions ... churning inside them.' - This Magazine

'[A] complex and moving novel deserving of a large and attentive readership.' - Quill and Quire

'Ms. Mayr's characterizations are second to none and she has a wonderful wit. [Monoceros] should be on all school curricula.' - Winnipeg Review

About the Author

Suzette Mayr is the author of six novels including her most recent, The Sleeping Car Porter, winner of the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction, and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. The novel was also shortlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and the Republic of Consciousness Prize (US and Canada). Mayr's other novels have won the ReLit Award and City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, and been nominated for the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book in the Canada-Caribbean Region, the Writers' Guild of Alberta's Best First Book and Best Novel Awards, and the Ferro- Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction. Mayr has done interdisciplinary work with Calgary theatre company Theatre Junction, and visual artists Lisa Brawn and Geoff Hunter. She has also published articles in journals such as Horror Studies, Studies in Canadian Literature, and The Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. She is a former President of the Writers' Guild of Alberta. Mayr teaches Creative Writing at the University of Calgary, and is a Killam Laureate.