Pigskin

by David Hartley

‘Pigskin’ will feature in Fly On The Wall Press' Shorts Season, an uncanny tale reminiscent of Animal Farm. A pig turns into bacon, a goat excretes cheese, a cow turns into leather, and 'pot-bellies', or humans, loom.

David is a passionate animal rights writer and vegan and does not shy away from exploring difficult questions about how we treat our fellow creatures.

Paperback

Published February 26, 2021

About the author

Writer, performer and researcher. PhD Creative Writing, The University of Manchester.

Writer-in-Residence Prima Vista Festival, Tartu, Estonia, May 2024 | Writer-in-Residence Västra Götaland, Sweden, Nov 2024 | Cohost of the Autism Through Cinema podcast 2021-2023

Instagram: @DHartleyWriter

Shortlisted: Bridport Prize 2020, Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2022, Saboteur Award 2016 & 2022

Vegan, animal-friendly, leaping-bunny approved. Be kind to animals.

Reviews

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, weird, dark short story riff on Animal Farm. Vegan revenge fan fiction. It'll certainly leave an impression.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read, brimming with animal revolt and revolution, you’ll never look at mundane grocery store purchases the same again.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small note of warning dear reader, this short story is not for the faint hearted. With vile, stomach-turning imagery presented throughout, you may not want to be eating when you read this horrific tale. I wasn’t sure what to exactly expect. With each new book I read, I go in with an open and clear mind.

Hartley uses vivid imagery that gives the story a gritty and grimy feel. This farm is not one you will find depicted in children’s picture books with the lushest green fields and happy singing animals. Oh no dear reader, think more Animal Farm meets Hannibal Lector.

The reader meets Pig, who sizzles in the summer heat. His skin is bacon, his brain is pork and his face is ham. The other animals all want a bite; just a nibble, as they are starving. They are not the important ones, the ones the farm wants. They have been forgotten, the farm is a gone land.

Among the animals there is Cow, who has learned the human language and taught the others, which in turn makes her believe she is now the boss. Pig never did and makes his points the way animals should. Cow says they must stand together while Pig dreams of green.

Hartley takes the reader on a dark, twisted tale where chickens have breadcrumbs for feathers and everyone wants a bite of pig’s sweet, tasty bacon. The disturbing imagery of animals being driven to starvation and eating each other is one that sticks clearly in your mind throughout the story. It reflects our own desires and needs for such forbidden fruit and how far we are willing to go to satisfy these needs.

Hartley cleverly explores our relationship with animals with dark comedy and hard hitting truths that are difficult to swallow. Every day animals are made to suffer in over-cramped cages, unkempt living conditions and with a bare minimal of food to survive on. All to feed the masses and our overstuffed pot-bellies. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth but opens your eyes to the greed of our species.

I give Pigskin By David Hartley a Three out of Five paw rating.

Bizarre and striking imagery that will make you grimace at the cruel hands of injustice. This short story is not afraid to stray from the path of normality and create its own dirt-ridden, hoof trodden track off to the side. I know one thing for sure: I won’t be eating bacon now for a long, long time.

[Lori Shriver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expect many times when people set down to eat meat they are detached as to where the meat comes from. They often think about standing in line at the store or shop to purchase it, or how long it took the chef to prepare it, and less about the personality the animal had when living.

Pigskin By David Hartley speaks to this. He writes a short story with a social message. The book is dedicated to the author's best vegan pals and it is a dark tale where the animals are hungry.

I received a copy of the book from Fly On the Wall Press.

[Faristamo Eller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surreal and efficacious story about the relationship between man and animals in all its grotesque.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am here for David Hartley’s genre defining vegan noir - allegory, empathy and macabre humour that draws the reader into a consideration of contemporary animal ethics and eschews the need for the sledgehammer of didacticism.

Wild imagination, sly allegory and well crafted prose - all ethically sourced.