Deaf at Spiral Park

Kieran Devaney

An original, surreal and philosophical debut novel exploring what it is that makes us human. A bear leaves his forest home and takes a series of jobs in an unnamed city. We meet a diverse and bizarre cast of characters who get drawn into his complex world including a recruitment consultant who suffers from recurring death! Some very disturbing scenes but also some very funny ones in particular those involving the absurdities of office life!

Extract

As soon as the bear entered the world, there was work. To be human, it seemed, there had to be work. To have the things that defined people, you had to have the money to afford them, and to have that, you had to work. Similarly, work itself defined people. When he found work, the bear was surprised at how much time it took up. Though less complex, his society among other bears had not been founded on the principle of work-when they had enough to eat, when they had done what was necessary, they stopped and were leisurely.

Parallels