![]() ![]() The so-called “Transition,” launched just a few years before the story begins, has reshaped every aspect of life. Rather, at the command of government officials who want credit for reducing “overpopulation, poverty, crime,” the nation has turned to cannibalism. ![]() This is not to say that everyone has become a vegetarian. Beef, pork, and poultry were swiftly banned and killed “because they’d been infected by a virus that was fatal to humans,” Bazterrica writes. The action takes place in what appears to be the near future, in an unnamed country beset by a viral illness that has incited “mass hysteria.” GGB, as the malady is known, was first detected in animals. As English-language readers are about to learn, it’s a chilling and alarmingly prophetic book. ![]() Tender Is the Flesh was first published in Spanish in 2017, earning its Argentinian author the Premio Clarín, one of the nation’s top literary prizes. For Marcos, reality is every bit as disturbing as his nightmares. In another, he stands amid tree limbs strewn with “eyes, hands, human ears, and babies.” Daybreak, alas, brings him no relief. In one, he watches helplessly as a wolf consumes his son. Marcos Tejo, the protagonist of Agustina Bazterrica’s taut and thought-provoking second novel, is tormented by horrifying dreams. ![]()
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