Jonny Appleseed

The novel Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead was originally published in 2018 by Arsenal Pulp Press. Whitehead, a queer Indigenous writer from Peguis Frist Nation, uses the auto-fictional character of Jonny to explore the intersections of LGBTQ+ and Indigenous identity. The novel was a 2021 Canada Reads Winner and the winner of a Lambda Literary Award. It was also a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

This guide uses the 2018 ePub edition from Arsenal Pulp Press.

Content Warning: Several chapters in the book reference childhood physical abuse, explicit sexual acts, and one chapter references childhood sexual assault. These chapters are noted beneath the individual chapter headings.

Plot Summary

The novel follows the first-person narrator, Jonny, as he figures out whether he can make enough money from webcamming (or “camming,” broadcasting oneself over the Internet) to make it home to the reserve for his stepfather’s funeral. For camming, he uses Snapchat to put on individual shows for clients. Most often requested is Jonny dressing up like an Indigenous stereotype, in full regalia, and masturbating on camera. He seems to accept this wryly, knowing that it's part of how white Canadians fetishize him.