Pigskin by David Hartley

Something strange is happening to the animals on the farm.

A pig becomes bacon, chickens grow breadcrumbs, a cow turns to leather, a goat excretes cheese. As food becomes scarce and the looming ‘pot-bellies’ threaten to invade the safety of the sty, Pig knows he must get to the bottom of this strange phenomenon or face imminent death. Reminiscent of Animal Farm and darkly satirical, David Hartley interrogates the ethics of farming and the potential problems of genetic engineering, asking important questions about our relationship to the food – or animals – we eat.

Review: Pigskin by David Hartley

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.

About the Author

David Hartley is an optimist, a passionate animal rights writer, and vegan and does not shy away from exploring difficult questions about how we treat our fellow creatures. He has a Creative Writing PhD at the University of Manchester, in which he researched the connections between autism and science fiction while writing a novel about autism and ghosts. His tales tend to be short, sharp, and weird, and more than a little unsettling. His fiction has been published in numerous places including Ambit, Black Static, BFS Horizons, Structo, Shooter, STORGY, The Alarmist, and volume one of The Shadow Booth.