In this beautiful blend of fiction, oral history, and theory, Belcourt seems to reinvent the novel even as his protagonist ponders if novels are worth writing. It’s about a queer Cree PhD student who abandons his dissertation, returns home to northern Alberta, and tries to write a novel. It’s not possible to summarize a book like this, and it’s hard to even convey just how unique and beautiful it is. It’s playful and sharp, a blend of gorgeously written intimate moments and academic theorizing. Belcourt’s sentences read like poems, and his unnamed narrator feels as real and whole and human as any protagonist I’ve ever encountered on the page.