Honestly, the toilet wand has more dignity. Filling his water bowl proved tricky for me, so I escorted him to the porcelain throne which was fruitful and utterly revolting. I put clothes in the laundry machine and dealt with Dennis’s not-so-subtle hints at dinnertime when he pummeled his food bowls as if they had castrated him.

Since Big Jim was so busy jabbing his finger at the basement wall and doing a stellar impression of a rabid raccoon, I took on even more of the household chores than I normally do. In the days after Big Jim’s eyeball rolled out of his head, it became clear that I was going to have to pick up some of the slack. Hollow Kingdom is about a pet crow fighting to save humanity from an apocalypse. She calls the tropical utopia of Seattle, Washington, home. Kira Jane Buxton’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. It doesn’t get any weirder, funnier or better than Hollow Kingdom.The following is an excerpt from Kira Jane Buxton's genre-bending debut novel, Hollow Kingdom. It’s amazing that such a bizarre and far-fetched story can connect so deeply with our reality and its discussions about social media, climate change, immigration and self-identity. There might not be humans or the world wide web anymore, but that doesn’t really seem to matter, as Buxton does a stellar job of anthropomorphizing the novel’s animals and adding drama, suspense, tragedy and hope. Equally fascinating is the odd squad of dogs, cats and other birds who have joined S.T. World annihilation doesn’t necessarily make for a fun read, except perhaps when told by a domesticated crow that has watched a lot of TV and thinks himself half-human. What now roams the earth are not humans but rather highly mutated and heinous creatures whose only purpose is to destroy. The human race as he knew it has ceased to exist, destroyed by their own addiction to technology. What he learns, however, is gut-wrenching. leaves the only home he has known to find some answers and possibly a cure.

When S.T.’s owner, Big Jim, succumbs to the virus’ effects, S.T. Narrated by a foulmouthed, Cheetos-loving pet crow named S.T., the story starts in Seattle, Washington, where a terrible virus has turned all humans into zombies. Kira Jane Buxton’s hilariously philosophical and formidable first novel, Hollow Kingdom, tackles humankind’s most existential questions.

Kira jane buxton