Dear Reader,
Where does the U.S. presidency go from here? With the rapid development of technology, in the fall of 2040, a dog is able to run for President of the United States. Against every expectation, she might be exactly what the country needs. So begins The Better Animal, one of the debut titles from Stable Book Group’s new imprint, Montague Books, and the fiction debut of author and former federal prosecutor Ken Ballen and debut novelist Wu Ming.
What convinced us to acquire it wasn't just the premise, bold as it is, but the world Ballen and Ming built around it: a fully imagined, emotionally rich America a decade and a half from now, still reckoning with the corruption and division of our present moment, and a story about who we choose to lead us when the usual choices have failed. At its center is a tender, unexpected love story between two men who find each other, and a family, through Kit. This is a book about second chances, for a country and for two men finally free to love openly.
We're proud to publish The Better Animal this November, and we hope you'll fall for Kit, Jake, and Wing as completely as we have. This November, vote for Kit!
Keith Riegert, President of The Stable Book Group