The Zoo

The Zoo is autofiction based on real events and people from the author’s years working on a chaotic big-box sales floor as a teenager in mid-2000s Scarborough. Names, timelines, and details are changed, but the core stories are based on real occurrences.

Not yet. The Zoo is a completed, unpublished manuscript. At this time, access to the full manuscript for review is provided only to agents and editors at reputable agencies or publishing houses. However, readers may currently read a sample of The Zoo's opening chapters Here. If you are an agent or editor, you may submit a request for the full manuscript Here.

A character-driven story with messy relationships, dark humour, chaotic retail energy, and unexpected moments that feel so wild they could only come from real life. It leans into the grit, the chaos, and the emotional beats that sneak up on you. It is not just a "funny retail memoir" or a collection of shock stories. It is a real coming-of-age novel that just happens to unfold in a workplace that operates like a madhouse.

Grit, survival, loyalty, mentorship, exploitation, and coming-of-age under pressure are all at the heart of the story. It is driven by chaos, comedy, and the kind of working-class realism you rarely see in fiction. The book also leans heavily into culture, and what it feels like to grow up in a truly multicultural environment where unspoken cues shape how people talk, move, joke, and clash. The sales floor becomes a place where different backgrounds collide in ways that feel real, honest, and familiar to anyone who has lived in a diverse community.

Darkly funny, raw, fast-moving, and grounded in the rough edges of Toronto life. Think workplace madness mixed with coming-of-age honesty, with humour used as armour and survival instinct. The story is written in language that is unpolished in the best way, shaped by the time, the place, and the people it surrounds. It is often profane and intense, but always authentic, a reflection of a reality that does not usually make it into fiction.

Besides the fact that the real events took place there, that era still had a raw and unfiltered edge. It was pre-smartphone, pre-viral culture, and pre-polished retail. It captures Scarborough at a time when everything felt louder, rougher, and funnier because nothing was curated or recorded, and people took themselves a lot less seriously.

Readers who crave honesty, grit, and that familiar feeling of surviving a chaotic first job. If you have worked in retail, dealt with questionable coworkers, grown up fast in dysfunctional environments, or found unexpected wisdom in the mess, this book will feel real. It is also for readers who do not want to be pandered to or talked down to, and who look for stories that have weight and realism. The kind of people who want to lose themselves in something that reminds them of the years when nothing was filtered or watered down.

The complete manuscript is approximately 80,000 words. The sample on this site includes the Prologue and Chapter 1.

Agents and editors can request the full manuscript through the contact form below or by emailing info@smblackbooks.com with “THE ZOO” in the subject line.