We spoke to author and translator Polly Barton about her debut novel, What Am I, A Deer?, a powerful story about an all-consuming crush Opening the pages of Polly Barton’s debut novel, What Am I, A Deer?, you’re greeted with a breathlessly recounted anecdote of the narrator performing Céline Dion at a school show in a gold satin nightie. With both immediacy and the cooler reflections of hindsight, Barton sets a tone that is confessional and clinical, dissecting and shameless.