Land of Smoke

Dazzling, hallucinatory stories by Sara Gallardo, a rediscovered Argentinian contemporary of García Márquez

An old man wakes up one morning to find that his beloved garden, the envy of all his neighbours, is floating away – with him on board; a bored young woman decides to start a new, double life in Buenos Aires – with the useful prop of a spare head she keeps in her closet; a meek German missionary leaves Paraguay for the Pampas, completely unprepared for what he will encounter there at night.

Land of Smoke is the first English translation of this recently rediscovered major Argentinian writer. Dazzling and hallucinatory, the stories collected here recall the masters of magical realism – but with Gallardo’s distinctive, idiosyncratic slant.

Povesti orbitoare, halucinante, ale lui Sara Gallardo, o contemporana argentiniana redescoperita a lui García Márquez Un batran se trezeste intr-o dimineata pentru a descoperi ca gradina lui iubita, invidia tuturor vecinilor sai, pluteste - cu el la bord; o tanara plictisita decide sa inceapa o viata noua, dubla, in Buenos Aires - cu proptul util al unui cap de rezerva pe care il tine in dulap; un misionar german bland pleaca din Paraguay catre Pampas, complet nepregatit pentru ceea ce va intalni acolo noaptea.Land of Smoke este prima traducere in engleza a acestui scriitor argentinian recent redescoperit.