El ao del desierto is the story of a year in the life of Maria Valdes Neylan, narrated by herself, from somewhere in Ireland or England. The novel narrates the (literal) dissolution of a city (Buenos Aires), of a nation (Argentina) and of a life story (that of Mara). The agent of this dissolution is the Wilderness (la intemperie). But, what is the Wilderness? The novel does not provide any definition or clarification regarding its nature. We do not know if its a natural or supernatural phenomenon. We do not know if its a sentient phenomenon, an instrument animated by an evil design or just an impersonal force. Furthermore, nobody witnesses the Wilderness in action. Only its effects are recorded the gradual (but fastpaced) degradation and disappearance of buildings, streets, of all trace of human work or habitation, and its replacement by a nature (certainly not Mother Nature) out of control. Because of the Wilderness, the city disappears and the Desert reclaims what always belonged to it. This novel by Pedro Mairal (Buenos Aires, 1970) is a brilliant tour de force. On the one hand, it captures the Zeitgeist of post2001, preKirchner Argentina. But, as happens in Kafkas fictions (or in any work of literature worthy of that name) Mairal takes the allegory well beyond the mere document of the present. In these pages the reader will find a story that is simultaneously familiar and infinitely strange, the sights and sounds of Buenos Aires everyday life, but also the peculiar...

Binding: Paperback;338 pages; Publisher: Stockcero, Inc.; Classification: N/A; Weight: 618.04 g; Dimensions: N/A

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