Scars

This entire novel consists of a discussion between two friends — one who just returned from Europe, the other a young accountant — about a grand birthday party neither one was able to attend. This doesn't stop them from swapping stories and hypotheses, which balloon into a riveting depiction of the complexities of life, especially at the dawn of Argentina's Dirty War.

"Saer is one of the best writers of today in any language." — Ricardo Piglia

"What Saer presents marvelously is the experience of reality, and the characters' attempts to write their own narratives within its excess." —

In modern-day Paris, Pichón Garay receives a computer disk containing a manuscript — which might be fictional, or could be a memoir — by Doctor Real, a nineteenth-century physician tasked with leading a group of five mental patients on a trip to a recently constructed asylum. Their trip, which ends in disaster and fire, is a brilliant tragicomedy thanks to the various insanities of the patients, among whom is a delusional man who greatly over-estimates his own importance and a nymphomaniac nun who tricks everyone — even the other patients — into sleeping with her.

Fascinating as a faux historical novel and written in Saer's typically gorgeous, Proustian style, can be read as a metaphor for exile — a huge theme for Saer and a lot of Argentine writers — as well as an examination of madness.

Juan José Saer Scars La GrandeThe Event

Hilary Vaughn Dobel

Saer’s final novel, La Grande, is the grand culmination of his life’s work, bringing together themes and characters explored throughout his career, yet presenting them in a way that is beautifully unique, and a wonderful entry-point to his literary world.

Moving between past and present, La Grande centers around two related stories: that of Gutiérrez, his sudden departure from Argentina 30 years before, and his equally mysterious return; and that of “precisionism,” a literary movement founded by a rather dangerous fraud. Dozens of characters populate these storylines, incluind Nula, the wine salesman, ladies’ man, and part-time philosopher, Lucía, the woman he’s lusted after for years, and Tomatis, a journalist whoM Saer fans have encountered many times before.

Written in Saer’s trademark style, this lyrically gorgeous book — which touches on politics, artistic beliefs, illicit love affairs, and everything else that makes up life — ends with one of the greatest lines in all of literature: “With the rain came the fall, and with the fall, the time of the wine.”

"The most important Argentinian writer since Borges." —

The One Before

Many of the characters who populate Juan José Saer's other novels appear here, including Tomatis, Ángel Leto, and Washington Noriega (who appear in , and , all of which are available from Open Letter). Saer's typical themes are on display in this collection as well, as is his idiosyncratic blend of philosophical ruminations and precise storytelling.

From the story of the two characters who decide to bury a message in a bottle that simply says "MESSAGE," to Pigeon Garay's attempt to avoid the rising tides and escape Argentina for Europe, evocatively introduces readers to Saer's world and gives the already indoctrinated new material about their favorite characters.