Five
Will be published approx. on 28. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-8112-3236-4 (ISBN)
Description
Five, selected from over 100 untranslated novels and stories by "the Duchamp of Latin America" (Natasha Wimmer), brings together-each an astonishing work-Margarita: A Memory, The Dream, Musical Brushstrokes, Princess Springtime, and The Hormone Pill. Following a cast of dreamlike characters including cyber nuns, a young princess making ends meet as a hack translator, a newspaper vendor, and General Winter and his sadistic sidekick, the Little Christmas Tree, Five shows the many facets of Aira's master mind as he turns expectations inside-out and gleefully explodes genre conventions.
Five is a must-have for Aira's legion of devoted fans around the world and a fine introduction to the as-yet uninitiated. A satisfyingly hefty installment from this "exquisite miniaturist" (WSJ) and writer whose "cubist eye sees from every angle" (NYT); because "once you start reading Aira, you don't want tostop" (Roberto Bolano).
Five is a must-have for Aira's legion of devoted fans around the world and a fine introduction to the as-yet uninitiated. A satisfyingly hefty installment from this "exquisite miniaturist" (WSJ) and writer whose "cubist eye sees from every angle" (NYT); because "once you start reading Aira, you don't want tostop" (Roberto Bolano).
Reviews / Votes
"A lampoon of our need for narrative. No one today does metafiction like Aira." -- Robyn Creswell - The Paris Review "An Aesop in Breton's clothing." -- Thomas Hachard - Los Angeles Review of Books "Outlandish B-movie fantasies are all part of the game. His best-known works are nonsensically hysterical. To love Cesar Aira you must have a taste for the absurd, a tolerance for the obscurely philosophical, and a willingness to laugh out loud against your better judgment." -- Marcela Valdes - NPR Books "Once you start reading Aira, you don't want to stop." -- Roberto Bolano "I get so absorbed by an Aira novel that upon finishing I don't remember anything. It's like having a complex cinematic dream that dissipates upon awakening." -- Patti Smith - The New York Times Book Review "Sui generis is really the only way to accurately describe Cesar Aira. He's by turns a realist, a magical realist and a surrealist - and therefore not really any of them. Anything can happen in an Aira novel, and almost everything does." -- Tyler Malone - Los Angeles Times "To love the novels of Cesar Aira you must have a taste for the absurd, a tolerance for the obscurely philosophical, and a willingness to laugh out loud against your better judgment." -- Marcela Valdes - NPR "Everything in Aira has that Mad Scientist feel to it." -- Jacob Mikanowski - The Millions "Astonishing-turns Don Quixote into Picasso." -- Harper's "Aira's works are like slim cabinets of wonder, full of unlikely juxtapositions. His unpredictability is masterful." -- Rivka Galchen "He summons up a genie who can do everything but fulfill our wishes." -- New York Review of BooksMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8112-3236-4 (9780811232364)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Cesar Aira was born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina in 1949, and has lived in Buenos Aires since 1967. He won the 2021 Formentor Prize and was shortlisted for the 2015 International Booker Prize.
The poet and translator Chris Andrews has won the Valle Inclan Prize and the French-American Translation Prize for his work. Jeff VanderMeer is an American author, editor, and literary critic. The first volume of his Southern Reach series, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson awards, and was adapted into a movie by Paramount. The New Yorker dubbed him the "King of Weird Fiction."
The poet and translator Chris Andrews has won the Valle Inclan Prize and the French-American Translation Prize for his work. Jeff VanderMeer is an American author, editor, and literary critic. The first volume of his Southern Reach series, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson awards, and was adapted into a movie by Paramount. The New Yorker dubbed him the "King of Weird Fiction."