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Tender Is the Flesh Spiral-Bound | 2020-08-04

Agustina Bazterrica Sarah Moses

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THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION 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. Read more
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Original Binding: Paperback
Pages: 224 pages
Item Weight: 0.5 lbs
Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
PRAISE FOR TENDER IS THE FLESH BY AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA
WINNER OF ARGENTINA’S CLARÍN NOVELA PRIZE 2017

A USA Today Bestseller

“From the first words of the Argentine novelist Agustina Bazterrica’s second novel, Tender Is the Flesh, the reader is already the livestock in the line, reeling, primordially aware that this book is a butcher’s block, and nothing that happens next is going to be pretty.”
—New York Times Book Review

"The novel is horrific, yes, but fascinatingly provocative (and Orwellian) in the way it exposes the lengths society will go to deform language and avoid moral truths."
—Taylor Antrim, Vogue

“Taut and thought-provoking...a chilling and alarmingly prophetic book...this is an urgent cautionary tale...timely, crucial.”
—Words Without Borders

“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

"Propulsive and deranged, Tender Is the Flesh is a weird and quick read that strays far enough from our current reality to be utterly engrossing... and a book that will stick with you for a long time."
—Thrillist

“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

"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

"What a compelling, terrible beauty this novel is. My heart was breaking even as my skin was crawling.”­­
—Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies

“Provocative, muscular, and entirely unforgiving, this terrifying novel is a timely reminder that words have the power to strip us of our humanity. I gulped it down with my heart racing.”
—Sue Rainsford, author of Follow Me to Ground
A suspenseful dystopian high-concept novel: 2022 is the year of the dystopian novel--and even the year in which Soylent Green, the 1973 film in which climate catastrophe forces people to (unknowingly) turn to cannibalism, is set. Echoing this classic work, Tender is the Flesh also continues in the more recent tradition of​ The Farm to Severance, other successful works of dystopian literary fiction. Through dazzling world-building and with dynamic pace, this novel conjures a harrowing but convincingly plausible future in which, cannibalism has become the norm after a catastrophic fallout in the natural world.

Paperback original publication: Trade paperback original is the format for award-winning international fiction. Both Milkman and Girl, Woman, Other were published in paperback in the US after winning the Man Booker Prize in the UK. Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, though American, was released as a trade paperback original to much attention and was reviewed on the cover of the New York Times Book Review.

Timely and relevant subject: From the fires in the Amazon to the search for a sustainable plant-based burger, there has never been more awareness and interest in our escalating climate crisis. This novel electrifies the current conversation around the environmental, emotional, moral, and philosophical costs of meat consumption.

An international bestseller and prize winner: The novel won Argentina's top literary prize, Premio Clarín de Novela and has been bought in nine territories. It is already a bestseller for Flammarion in France under the title Cadavre Exquis and will be published in the UK in February 2020, which will build buzz for our summer publication.

Up-and-coming Latin American novelist: From Samanta Schweblin to Valeria Luiselli, there is growing interest in fiction translated from Spanish. Agustina, like Samanta, is already central figure in the Buenos Aires literary scene and this book will break her out into an English-speaking audience.

First American quote from Christina Dalcher will be featured on the cover.

TV adaptation in the works: After a hotly contested auction with ten participants, TV rights were sold and a series based on the novel is in development.