Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird

April 10, 2023
In Argentine writer Bazterrica’s provocative collection (after the novel Tender Is the Flesh), scenes of fantastical metamorphoses add a touch of levity to disturbing chronicles of self-mutilation and suicide. “Roberto,” the brief and off-kilter opener, features a schoolgirl with a bunny growing between her legs who’s preyed upon by her math teacher. In “The Continuous Equality of the Circumference,” an allegory of perfection taken to the extreme, protagonist Ada transforms her body into the shape of a circle, first by gaining weight and then by cutting off her arms and legs. In “Elena-Marie Sandoz,” a B-movie actor dies by suicide after receiving a series of letters encouraging her to do so. Here, Bazterrica writes mordantly of the strange compulsion to visit decrepit cemeteries such as the one where Sandoz is buried: “People are capable of anything to dissipate the monotony of their lives.” Even the lighter entries are strangely unsettling, such as “No Tears,” about a family renowned for never crying who attend funerals to make the bereaved laugh. Though the author leans a bit much on shock value, she adds depth to the strange and eerie atmosphere with recurring themes of religion and death (“She wants to be the divine abode in which the sacred is housed,” Bazterrica writes of the self-sacrificing Ada). Vivid and bizarre, this will entrance. Agent: Johanna Castillo, Writers House.

Starred review from April 1, 2023
Fans of Bazterrica's Tender is the Flesh (2020) are in for a treat in this collection of 20 macabre tales that lead the reader into something peculiar that shifts into something much darker. Each story starts out innocently: discarded dentures on someone's patio, curious primary-school gossip about a bunny, a cathartic step-by-step guide for the broken-hearted, a lonely woman staring at an infernal painting. But as the reader gets comfortable with the vivid imagery and clever prose, Bazterrica adds a seemingly misplaced detail and delivers a jarring blow. This elicits an immediate reread, allowing the unsettling narrative to expand, seep, and ultimately captivate. Not all stories end in gruesome deaths or dismemberment, though such outcomes are to be expected, considering Bazterrica's cannibalistic first book. Some stories are metaphorical, with predatory males likened to wolves, while ""Hell"" depicts a pitifully tortured bird held hostage by witches. There are also whimsical tales. In one, a paranoid woman manages to both appease and repel a vexatious friend; in another, a man who doesn't shed tears regularly attends strangers' funerals. These uncanny stories swirl with acuity, haunting and challenging readers with a mesmerizing and profound surety.

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