In this hilariously entertaining summer read, Brian Haigh follows up last year’s Kindle Single Awaken Your Perfect Self: How to Become Better than Everybody Else with an absurdist detective send-up/road trip. In the newly released The Road to Hell is Paved with Kitty Litter, Haigh teams ace cat detective Sam Touba with the recently-paroled narrator from the first book as they hunt high and low for the elusive self-help “guru” Jim Hoenfhmfjn. Their journey begins behind a dumpster in a seedy Los Angeles parking lot and finds its way to Las Vegas, with several cats and Hoenfhmfjn “life lessons” sprinkled in between.
“My first book was written as a satire of so-called self-help gurus, told in a completely deadpan style,” says Haigh. “For the followup, I wanted to stay true to the world of the first book while creating a breezy, fun summer read. And to me, detective stories and road trips both scream ‘summer fun’. So I figured, what the hell? Let’s combine ’em! And that’s how The Road to Hell is Paved with Kitty Litter was born. I guess you could say if the first book made fun of self-help gurus, this one is a parody of Hollywood detective novels à la Raymond Chandler.”
Last year’s Awaken Your Perfect Self: How to Become Better than Everybody Else was Brian Haigh’s first ebook effort. It was selected as a Kindle Single on Amazon, where it went on to sell over ten thousand copies and spark controversy amongst commenters and reviewers. Haigh was surprised to see the polarized response as it became clear that people either saw it as a “perfect satire” and “first rate comic slice and dice”, or felt betrayed because it did not fulfull the $.99 worth of self-help that it had promised.
“Every author would love to see their work showered with praise,” says Haigh. “But I have to admit to really being fascinated by the ‘love it or despise it’ reaction Awaken Your Perfect Self generated. I feel like the story’s subject matter really touched a nerve in a lot of people.”
Brian Haigh got his BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and honed his comedic chops writing and performing across Canada in Fringe Festival shows throughout the first half of the 1990’s. After stints in Tokyo and Seattle, Haigh made his way to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He tirelessly chased his dream until reaching the pinnacle—as an extra in Season 5 of ‘24’.
For an Advance Reader Copy or to schedule an interview with Brian Haigh, please send inquiries to queries@haighworld.com or (213) 375-4718.