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Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the "Transition." Now, eating human meat—"special meat"—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he's given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he's aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
"This translated prizewinner by Argentinian novelist Bazterrica exquisitely dishes up an intricate tale of a systematized dystopian society… a sagacious and calculated exploration of the limits of moral ambiguity; it sears and devastates." —Booklist (starred review)
"It is a testament to Bazterrica's skill that such a bleak book can also be a page-turner. An unrelentingly dark and disquieting look at the way societies conform to committing atrocities." —Kirkus Reviews
"Bazterrica's writing is ferocious; she has vision and intent. When you least expect it, her narrative hits her target, and leaves you trembling." —Samanta Schweblin, author of Fever Dream and Seven Empty Houses
"This book will pull you in, take hold, and not let go until you reach the final page—perhaps far longer than that. Without a doubt, my favorite read of this year." —Christina Dalcher, author of Vox
This information about Tender Is the Flesh was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Agustina Bazterrica was born in Buenos Aires in 1974. She has a degree in art from the University of Buenos Aires, works as a cultural administrator, and has served on the jury for literary competitions such as the Premio Fondo Nacional de las Artes. She writes essays and fiction and has published one short story collection and three novels, including Tender Is the Flesh, whichwon the Clarín Novel Prize, was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards, and was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post and Vogue. Tender Is the Flesh also became a worldwide bestseller, with more than 600,000 copies sold in the United States alone. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide.
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