Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird (2023) by Agustina Bazterrica

 Book Review

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird (2023)

by Agustina Bazterrica

  I loved, loved, loved Argentine author Agustina Bazterrica's 2017(2020 in translation) novel, Tender is the Flesh, a parable about cannibalism and capitalism that really tore into both themes with wit and verve.  This year we get Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, a compilation of her short fiction- some pieces short enough to qualify as "flash fiction."  

   It's hard to get excited about the 19 stories in Nineteen Claws- there are some moments, some pages, some turns of phrase, but many of the works here are little more than literary sketches, which is fine, I understand the process by which authors who have a mid-career breakthrough in translation then get to back and publish their older/minor stuff in translation as well, and I'm here for it, but I didn't find Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird particularly satisfying.  I am looking forward to her next novel, though.