Cannon
by Lee Lai
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Pub Date 9 Sep 2025 | Archive Date 15 Nov 2025
Description
A Lambda Award winner and breakout fiction sensation returns with a darkly funny slice of friendship strife
We arrive to wreckage—a restaurant smashed to rubble, with tables and chairs upended riotously. Under the swampy nighttime cover of a Montreal heat-wave, this is where we meet our protagonist, Cannon, dripping in little beads of regret sweat. She was supposed to be closing the restaurant for the night, but instead, well, she destroyed it. The mess feels a bit like a horror-scape—not unlike the horror films Cannon and her best friend, Trish, watch together. Cooking dinner and digging into deep cuts of Australian horror films on their scheduled weekly hangs has become the glue in their rote relationship. In high school, they were each other's lifeline—two queer second-generation Chinese nerds trapped in the suburbs. Now, on the uncool side of their twenties, the essentialness of one another feels harder to pin down.
Yet, when our stoic and unbendingly well-behaved Cannon finds herself—very uncharacteristically—surrounded by smashed plates, it is Trish who shows up to pull her the hell outta there.
In Cannon, Lee Lai’s much anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed and award-winning Stone Fruit, the full palette of a nervous breakdown is just a slice of what Lai has on offer. As Cannon’s shoulders bend under the weight of an aging Gung-gung and an avoidant mother, Lai’s sharp sense of humor and sensitive eye produce a story that will hit readers with a smash.
Advance Praise
"In Cannon, Lee Lai has performed a rare and powerful act of alchemy—the images, narrative, and writing not only capture a life, but combine so that the book itself feels alive."—Torrey Peters, Stag Dance
"Beguilingly drawn, Cannon depicts a wide spectrum of adulthood with nuance and complexity. From one story unravels many stories, about friendships, situationships, work, familial obligations. I was struck by its attention and care."—Ling Ma, Bliss Montage
"A beautifully-drawn slice of life, filled with the kind of intimate, specific details that make the best fiction seem autobiographical."—Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings
"It’s rare, and precious, when a moment in a movie, in a poem, in a comicsurges up at you as being True. And in Cannon, Lee Lai does it again and again."—Eleanor Davis, The Hard Tomorrow
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781770468023 |
| PRICE | US$29.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Poppy H, Bookseller
This graphic novel is BEAUTIFUL - genuinely a new favourite. I’ve been meaning to read Stone Fruit for years and will now be going out and getting it immediately.
A beautiful story, even more beautiful illustrations. Everything you could possibly want from a graphic novel. I will definitely be buying on its release to add to the collection.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending the e-ARC. I’ll be recommending to anyone who will listen.
Bookseller 1765159
Lee Lai has managed to combine so many aspects of friendship and family in a way that is in parts painfully true, all the while with a dose of magic realism. If great writing is hiding your plot points deftly amongst characters who live and breathe so clearly on the page, then Lai is a master. Also manages to nail the heady mix of cultures in a place like Montreal, for better and worse (I’m a mixed race Brit who has worked in similar kitchens in similar cities). Stunning. Can’t wait to not only buy a physical copy for myself, but to get it into the hands of customers.
Grey M, Bookseller
Another gorgeous graphic novel from Lee Lai, I still think about Stone Fruit and I think Cannon will stay with me for a long time. I read this in one sitting and found myself crying at the end. I love the way Lai writes complicated characters whose relationships aren't straightforward or simple. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Cannon and Trish - it is hard to maintain a long term friendship with someone as you grow and change, especially if you aren't able to have honest conversations about it. I resonated with Cannon's character and it was really cool to see them finally able to speak up. I particularly loved the use of the magpies during moments of intense emotions.
The relationships between Cannon, her mother and her Gung Gung were particularly powerful to me, I appreciated that it wasn't a neat conclusion but it left space for things to move forward. I appreciate all these characters (especially Benji and Kam) for demonstrating ways we can begin to show up for one another and accept help where it is offered.
A beautiful book, thank you Lee Lai for writing about butches with softness and compassion.
