Land of Smoke
Published on 25. January 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-78227-403-2 (ISBN)
Description
Dazzling, hallucinatory stories by Sara Gallardo, a rediscovered Argentinian contemporary of Garcia Marquez
An old man wakes up one morning to find that his beloved garden, the envy of all his neighbours, is floating away - with him on board; a bored young woman decides to start a new, double life in Buenos Aires - with the useful prop of a spare head she keeps in her closet; a meek German missionary leaves Paraguay for the Pampas, completely unprepared for what he will encounter there at night.
Land of Smoke is the first English translation of this recently rediscovered major Argentinian writer. Dazzling and hallucinatory, the stories collected here recall the masters of magical realism - but with Gallardo's distinctive, idiosyncratic slant.
An old man wakes up one morning to find that his beloved garden, the envy of all his neighbours, is floating away - with him on board; a bored young woman decides to start a new, double life in Buenos Aires - with the useful prop of a spare head she keeps in her closet; a meek German missionary leaves Paraguay for the Pampas, completely unprepared for what he will encounter there at night.
Land of Smoke is the first English translation of this recently rediscovered major Argentinian writer. Dazzling and hallucinatory, the stories collected here recall the masters of magical realism - but with Gallardo's distinctive, idiosyncratic slant.
Reviews / Votes
Her wild pampas, her intimate wars, and with a delirious but contained imagination, sweet but cruel... Land of Smoke is my favourite book by one of my favourite Argentinian authors * Samanta Schweblin, author of <i>Fever Dream</i> * The forty-six stories and fragments in Land of Smoke... offer a gamut of lengths, themes and moods... the best are diamantine, intense and violent * Times Literary Supplement * Land of Smoke dazzles above all in its highly personal language, made up of simple words, long silences and constant poetic feats of daring, a language glowing with both the most absolute desperation and the fierce joy of discovering, capturing and sharing the glory of one's experiences * Leopoldo Brizuela * Surprising and enigmatic... reads like poetic communique from an exceptional imagination * LA Times * She writes with an air of authority (which Jessica Sequeira has translated from Spanish brilliantly) that begs your trust... Gallardo's succinct descriptions define the tangible - the weather, the landscape, the physical circumstances - while her plots are fantastical. The former grounds the latter, making anything seem possible * Chicago Review of Books * Gallardo's short story collection pushes the form in new and unexpected directions... This is a significant addition to South American literature in translation; the breadth of Gallardo's imagination expands the canon * Kirkus Reviews * At all turns, these stories are unsettling, surprising, and unmissable. Land of Smoke is a bountiful collection of short stories, full of sharp edges, odd magic, and unexpected allure * Foreword Reviews * Sara Gallardo's work possesses such radical originality it would be most appropriate to categorize it with the kind of literature that doesn't seem like anything else, that doesn't even fit the canon of the established heterodoxy, and that will always be read as a discovery * Martin Kohan * Someone who used different coloured glasses to everyone else * Mercedes Halfon * [Gallardo] shines as a compassionate storyteller * The National * Masterfully crafted short stories... Gallardo's success lies in the unusual twists and turns of her narratives... This collection should be ranked alongside other great works of fiction by Latin American female writers * Morning Star * [Land of Smoke] is a haunting cornucopia of the strangest fare Southern South America can possibly offer * Bookanista * A wonderful collection. It reads like a selection from a lifetime's work * 1streading (blog) *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 165 mm
Width: 120 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78227-403-2 (9781782274032)
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Other editions
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Persons
Sara Gallardo was a celebrated and prize-winning Argentinian writer, born in Buenos Aires in 1931. Her first book was published in 1958, and by the time she died in 1988, she had published novels, short stories, children's books, and essays. Written after the death of her second husband, Land of Smoke is the first of her books to be translated into English.
Jessica Sequeira is an American translator. After studying at Harvard and the University of Cambridge, she started translating Latin American writers. This is her first translation for Pushkin Press.
Jessica Sequeira is an American translator. After studying at Harvard and the University of Cambridge, she started translating Latin American writers. This is her first translation for Pushkin Press.