Book Info
Name of Book : Tender is the Flesh
Author : Agustina Bazterrica
Publisher : Scribner
Publication Date : June 11, 2020
No. of Pages : 6 Hours 3 Minutes
Format : Audible Audiobook
Why did I choose the book ?
I selected Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica for #52booksin52weeks reading challenge.
Where to get the book ?
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica is available on Amazon :
Author Introduction
Agustina Bazterrica was born in Buenos Aires in 1974. She has a degree in Arts (UBA).
She won the First Municipal Prize of the City of Buenos Aires Unpublished Story 2004/5, the First Prize in the XXXVIII Latin American Short Story Contest "Edmundo Valadés", Puebla, Mexico, 2009, the ClarÃn Novel Prize 2017, the Ladys of Horror Fiction 2021 (USA), among others.
She was a jury member of literary contests, among which the National Fund for the Arts Award, 2021, and the 12th Itaú Digital Short Story Award, 2022, stand out.
In 2013 she published the novel "Matar a la niña" (Textos intrusos). In 2016 she published the book of short stories "Antes del encuentro feroz" (Alción Editora) and in December 2017 the novel Cádaver exquisito (Tender is the flesh) was published by the ClarÃn-Alfaguara publishing label, with 8 published editions. The television series of this book is in the works. In 2020 Alfaguara published a new compilation of his stories with the title "Nineteen claws and a black bird".
Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
In 2023 she finished a new soon-to-be-published novel.
She was manager and cultural curator of the Follow the White Rabbit Art Cycle together with Pamela Terlizzi Prina from 2015 to 2020
She coordinates reading workshops.
Blurb
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.
My Opinion
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica is a gory dystopian tale showing mankind's descent both in thinking and lifestyle. The plot has some gruesome details with emotionless characters. I just could not believe if this is really the future of the world. People who are just devoid of emotions are enjoying this world. But it needs only one person to change everything. Marcos, the main character, is just awesome. His character stands on a very thin line between good and bad. And the author has left it entirely to the readers to decide his true nature. Although the climax has a major cliffhanger, it was just mind-blowing. I would have loved a final conclusion.
But I would like to warn the readers that it has some bizarre details that brought my stomach to my throat. It has body horror, blood, killings, and everything else that feels like crawling under the skin. Still, the book is worth a one-time read and deserves 4 stars.
Ratings
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- Enjoyment ---------------- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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