The Haircutter

Born in the small town of Ten Sleep, Wyoming, The Haircutter—or H.C.— murders an enigmatic “Jenny” and flees to the glittering anonymity of New York City. Eight years later, after a series of odd jobs and lonely meals, H.C. is charged with driving a wolf from New York back to Wyoming, where it was captured for use in a conceptual art show. While back out West, he has a chance encounter with the girl he could never forget—slightly cross-eyed Carol.

Now shacked up with H.C. in the city, Carol discovers H.C.’s eponymous secret—his compulsion to cut off locks of strangers’ hair in public, archive them on a hidden door in their apartment. Carol declares the bizarre habit to be high art, and sends the work to the eccentric gallerist Leslie Christmas, thrusting The Haircutter into the spotlight of NYC’s art scene. Christmas creates a sensation out of the rube from Wyoming, who is only along for the ride to keep Carol in his bed, but when he is accused of another murder, he must scramble to set the record straight. The Haircutter tells the story of what is gained and lost in H.C.’s pursuit of love and meaning in a fascinatingly absurdist world.

By turns hysterical, disgusting, subversive, and heartbreaking, The Haircutter is a madcap romp alive with cultural provocation and twisted stereotypes. It is an uproarious send-up to fame and the pursuit of artistic expression that fearlessly combines sincerity and debauchery.

Dana Thompson lives in New York City. Originally from Nebraska, she began her life at an early age.

"Quirky. . . [an] enjoyable farce"--Publishers Weekly

"The Haircutter is a wild story of love, obsession, and art. These endearingly weird characters careen from the Wyoming of dive bars and cowboy car washes to the New York gallery scene and back again. Dana Thompson's story of true love, accidental fame, art world pretensions, and a little murder is told with deft comedic confidence. It’s unforgettable!"--Eileen Curtright, author of The Burned Bridges of Ward, Nebraska

"Dana Thompson's The Haircutter is wickedly clever--and, at times, just plain wicked. At turns hilarious and horrific, Thompson's debut is thrillingly subversive, satirizing the highfalutin art scene of New York City as well as the stereotypical 'eccentric misanthrope' character who often hails from the small town--told in prose so unexpected and surreal that it probably should be written in neon."--Nick White, author of How to Survive a Summer

"Yes, The Haircutter is a vivid hillbilly romp through 21st century New York, and yes, ten times yes, The Haircutter is funny. But what struck me most was the uniqueness of its voice: touching, hallucinatory, and above all, irreverent. No one else writes like Dana Thompson. No one can."--Albert Alla, author of Black Chalk

"At once hallucinatory and down-home, raunchy and high-concept, smothered in blood and full of giddy glee, Dana Thompson's The Haircutter comes at you like a bolt from out of nowhere, flowing with relentless, incandescent style. Here's one that will inadvertently knock your head off while trying to tickle you to death."--Blake Butler, author of Nothing, and Scorch Atlas