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

Monoceros is a masterpiece of the tragicomic; by exploring the effects of a suicide on characters outside the immediate circle, Mayr offers a dazzlingly original look at the ripple effects -- both poignant and funny -- of a tragedy. A tender, bold work.

Read more about Monoceros at the Coach House Books website:

http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/monoceros

With relentless intensity, the opening of Suzette Mayr’s fourth novel traces the joys and despairs of 17-year-old Patrick Furey in the final days before his suicide. Although he dies in the first chapter, Furey remains the novel’s fulcrum throughout the entire book. From the second chapter onward, Monoceros shifts between a wide range of characters who are affected by Furey’s death, from those who knew him well to those for whom he was just another face in a crowded high school hallway.

Read full article . . . (Quill & Quire)

Monoceros is one of the most imaginative, quirky and emotionally devastating novels I’ve read in a long while. Set at a Catholic high school in suburban Calgary, Monoceros illustrates just how painfully un-evolved high schools remain, even in the era of It Gets Better. Kids can be cruel and indifferent, and so can teachers and parents – dangerously so...

Read full article (Globe and Mail)

The last time Suzette Mayr unleashed a surreal jolt of one-of-a-kind creativity, her vehicle (2004’s Venous Hum) was a frenzied comic plot that mixed lesbo-centric suburban angst — workaholism, adultery, boredom — with outlandish characters that included a cannibal mother and a literally bloodsucking teacher.

The University of Calgary prof has returned to her hometown’s outskirts for her fourth novel, Monoceros. While on the surface the novel looks like another delirious romp — it features a drag performer named Crepe Suzette, a campy sci-fi TV show called Sector Six (in which fearless but sexy Colonel Shakira pilots the Starship Monoceros through the stars), and a jaded divorcee teacher who recalls none other than The Simpsons’ Edna Krabappel — the tone is actually sad and flecked with despair.

Read full article . . .

Long listed for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize!

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 counsellor, 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 very Catholic school. And Walter, who’s been secretly 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 Crêpe Suzette. And everything changes.

Monoceros is a masterpiece of the tragicomic; by exploring the effects of a suicide on characters outside the immediate circle, Mayr offers a dazzlingly original look at the ripple effects – both poignant and funny – of a tragedy. A tender, bold work.