Disassembly of the Pig: Book release today!

Disassembly of the Pig: full cover spread

My book, Disassembly of the Pig, is now officially live!

The button above links to Amazon. I’ve also got a limited number of signed copies available, if you’re interested. Check out this post for more info.

The book uses a combination of still life imagery and prose to lay bare not only the grotesquery and beauty of the porcine anatomy but, also, the equally complex and contradictory emotional core of our ongoing relationship with the pig. I’ve always conceived of this project as the art book equivalent of a novella. As such, it’s very short and very narrowly focused. For this reason it was also designed as a softcover, with an eye on keeping the price point as low as possible.

Here’s a sampling of what some of my advanced readers have been saying about the book:

“Neal Auch confronts us with an unsettling idea: there is beauty in horror.” —Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender is the Flesh

“A Dutch master’s sampler set in aspic, waxy horrors of skin, grey tones of organ, muscle clinging to bone, blacker than black background.” — Matthew Stokoe, author of Cows

“Auch's impressively detailed photographs present this equally beloved and disdained animal in a beautiful and unsettling way, much akin to the way in which it is perceived in our collective imagination.” — Mark Riddick, illustrator and graphic artist

“A stunning and important work.” — Sam Richard, author of To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows

“Dark and beautiful, thoughtful and full of a sort of wonder at the fragility of mortality, the thin line between us and the other.” — Donyae Coles, author of Midnight Rooms

“Auch's sublimely uncompromising study of the pig in pieces reveals more than just layers of flesh and bone.” — Matt Whyman, author of The Unexpected Genius of Pigs

“…captures an emotion you won't soon forget.” — Matt Lombard, photographer and digital artist

Disassembly of the Pig: product shot

I’ve had inquiries about creating a larger hardback book compiling my still life compositions. This book isn’t that but, rest assured, that book is coming! I’m currently shooting a bunch of supplemental images for that project and it’s tentatively scheduled for release by Halloween 2024. Stay tuned! Over the next few months I’ll be sharing a bunch of additional material, including some essays that expand on various aspects of Disassembly of the Pig, along with some unrelated stuff, like a fun project about creepy dolls. In the meantime, I hope that all you beautiful weirdos are doing well!