Recently, I was asked, "what is something interesting about you?" This question always stumps me because, honestly, I don't know if I find anything incredibly fascinating about me. My go-to response for this question is to ask someone else close to me what the right answer is, and without fail, they always say, "Uh dude, you wrote a book. That's pretty fucking cool." Typically to this, I shrug my shoulders and respond as such like a parrot, "I wrote a book."
But this bothers me. I didn't write my book, The Human Zoo, for clout, money, fame, or to appear interesting. Instead, it was a form of therapy I needed at that time in my life. The Human Zoo was written way back in 2015-16, and I continued to write and rewrite parts for the next two years.
This period, when I was 22-25, I refer to as the dark years. These were years filled with trauma, to sum it up nicely in a little package. But, I wouldn't trade it for the world because it allowed me to write The Human Zoo.
When people ask me what it's about, I always spit out a one-liner, "well, it's about a human zoo run by humans." After I say this, though, I sit in reflection for a while. This book is more than just a story. It carries real life emotions and situation in which I have experienced. What those are, well, I'll let you speculate after you read it.
So what encapsulates The Human Zoo? Honestly, I don't know how to explain it. It's an experience. It's a story about humanity and what it means to be human. It covers forgiveness, betrayal, friendship, and love. The Human Zoo also touches on male fragility, genocide, reproductive rights, and inhumane accepted societal views of oppression, to name a few. It's a book that, on the surface, seems like literary fiction, but at its core, it's full of innuendos, more profound thoughts, and a plea of ideological change from tradition. It covers the intertwined points of view of Priya and Jax; Priya is a human living like an animal in the zoo. Jax is the son of the zoo owner. They are less like star crossed lovers and more like star crossed beautiful tragedies. The Human Zoo is too complex to be summed up in a few lines when it comes down to it, but I hope the above convinced you enough to read it.
The Human Zoo is heavy, dark, and addicting, and I hope you will do me the honor of sharing in the experience of it with me when it comes out, which should be the end of January or early February.
Stay remarkable,
K. Rocazella
Please like, comment, or share this post below.