Heaven is Small
by Emily Schultz
Award-winning author and poet Emily Schultz offers an immensely readable, funny, and sharp novel about a man who works for a Harlequin-like publisher, and gradually discovers that he has arrived in "heaven." Like Will Ferguson's international bestseller, Happiness, Heaven is Small is a smart, satirical novel from one of our best.Heaven is Small is the funny, layered, startling, and profound story of Gordon Small, a degree-clutching slacker and failed fiction writer. Gordon is also, we discover in the first paragraph, recently deceased — although this is "an event he failed to notice." When Gordon finds himself suddenly employed at the Heaven Book Company, the world's largest romance publisher, he begins to notice that something is odd: his routines within the company's walls, though familiar in some respects, have taken on a strange cast — stranger than is usual in the average suburban office.With sly deadpan humour, brilliant insight into the human condition, and exceptionally beautiful writing, Schultz explores what it means to be truly alive only after you're dead.
close this panelEmily Schultz is author of the novels Heaven is Small (shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award) and Joyland, and the story collection Black Coffee Night, which was shortlisted Danuta Gleed Award. She is co-founder of the literary website Joyland: A hub for short fiction, and lives now in Brooklyn, New York.
close this panelSchultz's latest is a satire of office life, romance novels, and afterlife narratives. She has accomplished something quite remarkable here, deftly juggling all this social commentary and a rather blandly sympathetic protagonist with a sharp command of language.
Don't let the presence of the grim reaper scare you: Heaven is Small is a fantastical comedy.
A cleverly inspired, strikingly fresh stroke of narrative acuity. You won't be anle to put this one down.
Don't let the presence of the grim reaper scare you: Heaven is Small is a fantastical comedy.
...captivating...hilarious...seems tailor-made for a Hollywood adaptation.
Heaven is Small marks a big league jump for Schultz that could translate into wide mainstream appeal.
In her comic novel Heaven is Small, Toronto author Emily Schultz takes a light-hearted approach to the hereafter.
. . . an enjoyable, fast-paced ride . . . nothing can beat Schultz's frenetic, surprising, and genuinely funny writing.
Schultz has created a delightful cast of lost souls...Heaven is Small is a keen examination of life and the afterlife, brimming with intelligence and wit.
[Emily] Schultz's voice is stronger than ever, her storytelling tighter and her writing still replete with those trademark ziplines, surprising little protons of description that vault the reader into Schultz's unique narrative universe.
