Publisher’s Synopsis:
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.
Edition:
E-ARC
Disclosure:
I received an Advance Reader copy of Tender is the Flesh from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. They give me no money, nor do they in any way influence my thoughts – those are 100% my own for better or worse.
Awards:
- Premio Clarín de Novela (2017)
My Thoughts:
The second in my weird August full of books about cannibalism. (See also, The Hunger)
Tender is the Flesh to use the parlance of our times, left me shook.
It’s a lot. And it was constantly battering every expectation of it that I had. Since this is the translated version, and we all know that you frequently lose nuance in translation, I’m left wondering if Sarah Moses is just an incredibly good translator, or if Agustina Bazterrica might just be the best writer of all time because Tender is the Flesh is insanely good.
“He tried to hate all of humanity for being so fragile and ephemeral but he couldn’t keep it up because hating everyone is the same as hating no one.”
This story critiques so much about humanity (consumerism, rigidity, blind conformity, classism,etc.) in such a bleak, unflinching way that it absolutely floored me. It tells it like it is, and then it batters you relentlessly with humanity’s very real moral failings in the guise of some invented moral failings masked as human resilience and ingenuity. It is, frankly, anything but tender. Bazterrica has a very real talent for capturing the way that humans are capable of quickly and effectively normalize atrocities (hello world under the Trump administration!).
“She has the human look of a domesticated animal.”
It’s revolting. It’s disturbing. And it’s incredibly powerful. What evil things humans will do so long as the majority is doing it too. I found myself wondering at the beginning – why didn’t the world just go vegetarian? But then I sat on that question for the approximately 14 seconds it took my brain to jump to a parallel question – why the fuck can’t we get people to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic (those who are medically able, I mean)? The answer – lots of people are inflexible garbage who are far more worried with their own convenience and the illusion that ‘everything is as it always is and always has been and always will be’ than they are for the very lives of the people around them. Fuuuuuuuuck.
About the Author:
Agustina Bazterrica was born in Buenos Aires in 1974. She has published several short stories, poetry and novels. She is co-coordinator of the Art Cycle Follow the White Rabbit.
About the Translator:
Sarah Moses is a bit of a mystery. She has translated this and one other book, and also written a book of her own, titled A Hike Unlike Any Other Hike: The Pacific Crest Trail.
My Rating:
Tender is the Flesh Original Title: Cadáver exquisito By Agustina Bazterrica Translated by Sarah Moses Scribner ISBN: 1982150920 Published: August 4, 2020 Originally Published: January 1, 2015 Paperback, E-book 224 Pages
