Published in 1991, when Gil was in her 20s, by Coach House Press, Primitive explores the perils of family, the freedom of the road ... sex, cars and lack of sleep. And lizards.

"The gaze is cinematic, precisely intimate yet distant all at once. It is like flipping through channels. It is a film. It is not elegaic. It is not sleeping. The artefacts of the middle class are restless, their hallways and wallpaper, streets and shoes. This book is their theatre; we don't need a TV." – Erin Moure