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3.5 

Tender Is the Flesh

By Agustina Bazterrica & Sarah Moses
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica & Sarah Moses digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

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.

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36636 Reviews

3.5
Anxious Face with sweat“A very hard book to read. The author doesn’t hold back in this story when it comes to the description of what humans will do to each other. It’s very dark and unrelenting, but I don’t think I’d want it to be written in any other way— with such a gruesome subject. I think it’s worth reading if you’re able to stomach the subject matter the author covers. **Just a warning that there is animal cruelty so if that triggers you please avoid this**”
“I regret purchasing this book and trying to get through it. I am side-eyeing myself for reading the first 72 pages. It felt immoral to keep reading, not to mention the more I read the more nauseated I became. I chose to DNF at the end of Chapter 13, because I literally could not take anymore. As a horror movie/book buff I don't consider myself squeamish, but this book is just too much. It is beyond disturbing. It is grotesque. Read the trigger warnings and take them seriously if you are considering reading this book. I also recommend reading a sample of the text before going in for a full read.”
“Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.”

About Agustina Bazterrica

Agustina Bazterrica, born in Buenos Aires in 1974, has a degree in arts from the University of Buenos Aires and works as a cultural manager and jury member in various literary contests. She is the author of the short story collection Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, and the novels Matar al niña and Tender Is the Flesh, the latter of which was awarded the Clarín Novel Prize. Tender Is the Flesh established Bazterrica as a bestselling author worldwide, with translations into thirty languages and half a million copies sold in English alone. Tender Is the Flesh is currently being adapted for television. Her latest novel, The Unworthy, was published in Spanish in 2023 and received the same enthusiastic reception as Tender Is the Flesh, affirming Bazterrica’s status as a prominent author in contemporary literature.

Sarah Moses

Sarah Moses is a Canadian writer and translator from French and Spanish. She has translated work by Latin American authors including Tomás Downey and Ariana Harwicz, whose novel Die, My Love was longlisted for the International Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Premio Valle Inclán, and the Best Translated Book Award. The Unworthy is the third of Agustina Bazterrica’s books she has translated into English. Her collection of short fiction, Strange Water, will be published in the fall of 2024.

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