The Plotline Bomber of Innisfree by Josh Massey

Quill and Quire 2015 Fall Fiction Preview Selection

49th Shelf Most Anticipated 2015 Fall Fiction Selection

Set in the near future in the mountainous and fielded cusp between BC and Alberta, The Plotline Bomber of Innisfree by Josh Massey is the story of Jeffery Inkster, an ex-hipster-turned elk farmer. Inkster, whose goal is to live peacefully with his elk, harvesting their antlers, becomes embroiled in the political violence of oil-pipeline expansion.

Drawing from his experience working in the “Peace Country” of northern BC, Massey brings us the story of a community of artists and eccentrics who all become suspects in a series of pipeline bombings. But, amid the activism and counter-terrorism, there are other, more mysterious forces at play, forces that eat into the consciousness of all those involved.

Terrifying, hilarious, and suspenseful, this novel offers a satirical perspective of industrial society that will at once unsettle readers and present them with a cathartic release from the exasperation they might feel living in a civilization teetering towards environmental collapse.

Fans of metafiction, especially those who enjoy works with a thriller edge, and admirers of the works of writers Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges and filmmakers Christopher Nolan, David Cronenberg, and David Lynch, will appreciate this post-modern take on contemporary industrial and environmental politics through storytelling.

Watch the Interview with Josh Massey:

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Praise for The Plotline Bomber of Innisfree:

“Using prose poems, news blogs, documents and regular fictionalized text, Massey creates and records a bizarre world of the imagination. Or is it imaginary? Perhaps it’s our future. Through the voices of a variety of eccentric characters, Massey makes a convincing case in this short, complex, entrancing novel that is part futurist fiction and part ecological manifesto.” —Mark Frutkin, author of Fabrizio’s Return, winner of the 2006 Trillium Book Award

“Like a kingbird perched on a northern pipeline hand wheel, Massey catches his stories from a source far removed from the espresso bars of the Information Age. He understands both these worlds, and as a satirist he unifies them, has us thinking not of others but as one.”—Michael Turner, author of 8 X 10 and Hard Core Logo

“A brilliantly witty and incisive tale of our possible ecological near-future, rich in wordplay, exhilarating riffs, allusions and metafictional hijinks, yet filled with an understanding of humans and their complicities, allegiances, desires, and visions, this book . . . is a subtly compelling eco-thriller about the complexities and negotiations of living in a world balanced between capitalism and the environment. To paraphrase a line from the book, this novel reads like Thomas King, Anne Carson, and David Suzuki on brown acid.” —Gary Barwin, author of I, Dr. Greenblatt, Orthodontist, 251-1457

Reviews:

“Through elements of art, mythology and suspense, Massey creates a humorous yet unnerving satire about the turbulent sociopolitical and economic powers of Canada.” —Maisonneuve

“Practically everything in Massey’s novel is a skewed representation of reality, trapped somewhere between farce and academic criticism. There are strange and madcap characters…and locations with names such as PC Columbia, Cancougar, and Cowberta. Stylistically, the narrative is a melding of traditional prose, newspaper clippings, poetry as sales pitch, and even a hypnotic suggestion thrown in for good measure.” —Publishers Weekly

“The satire and hidden messages intertwined in Massey’s words will challenge readers to question the seemingly obvious.” —This Magazine

“In the present-day context of contentious pipeline politics, Massey explores the complexities of the conflicts while poking fun at it all….Part mystery-thriller, part documentary long poem, part dream-vision, part political manifesto, Plotline Bomber is original, quirky, and wonderfully inexplicable.” —Northword Magazine

“Terrace-based Josh Massey might be a visionary godsend.” —Vancouver Sun

“Highly relevant to Canada’s current extractivist policies, Massey offers us a glimpse of a future that may not be as far off as we would hope.” —Apt 613

Let My Elks Go Free: A Spotlight on The Plotline Bomber of Innisfree by Josh Massey —BC Bookworld

Interviews and Profiles:

Author portrays small community facing change: An Interview with Josh Massey —Terrace Standard

Author recalls pipeline bombings seven years on: A profile on Josh Massey —Alaska Highway News

Where in Canada: Mountains meet Prairie in The Plotline Bomber of Innisfree —All Lit Up

Josh Massey on His Literary Places —Open Book Toronto

Locally Sourced: A Recommended Reading List by Josh Massey —49th Shelf

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Josh Massey’s fiction and poetry have been published in journals in Canada, Italy, the US and the UK. He is the author of the novel We Will All Be Trees (2009) and has won a Canadian Community Newspaper Award for his journalism. His literary film work has been screened at the Ottawa International Writers Festival, the Arts Wells Festival in BC and other events. Massey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Studies from McGill University, and a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Northern British Columbia. Originally from Ottawa, Massey currently lives in Terrace, BC. Connect with him on Twitter @Northwestism.