The Little Buddhist Monk & The Proof - Softcover

Aira, César

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811221121 ISBN 13: 9780811221122

Publisher: New Directions, 2017

Synopsis

Two completely different stories by the inimitable César Aira

The Little Buddhist Monk is a story of Asian invention gone wild, as a diminutive Korean Buddhist monk acts as a tour guide to an increasingly distraught French couple on a working vacation in the Far East. The Proof brings us quickly back to the West, where two punks, plus a new recruit  (“Wannafuck?” is the opening line as the two punk lesbians accost the chubby and shy Marcia on a quiet street in Buenos Aires), take control of a local supermarket with dire consequences for the hostages. These two Aira works are as different as night and day. Nevertheless, sex, identity, and modern day economics figure deeply in both of these fast-paced, edgy fictions.

About this title

About the Author:

Nominated for a Neustadt award and the Man Booker International Prize, César Aira was born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina, in 1949. He has published at least one hundred books and was most recently the creator of a limited edition, “Valise,” for the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. 

Nick Caistor is a translator, editor, and author. He has written a biography of Octavio Paz and has translated the works of José Saramago, Paulo Coelho, and Julián Ríos, among others.

Review:

“New novellas from Aira are always a cause for celebration.”
- Brian Evenson, Big Other

“Irreverent inventiveness ... without analogue in contemporary literature.”
- Megan Doll, San Francisco Chronicle

“Uncanny imagination a la Calvino.”
- Laura Pearson, The Chicago Tribune

“Cesar Aira is wild. The laws of gravity do not apply.”
- James S.A. Correy, The Denver Post

“South America’s answer to Haruki Murakami.”
- Andrew Irvin, The Miami Herald

“Aira delivers one surreal unraveling of reality after another that proceeds paradox by paradox into psychic realms.”
- Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

“Aira continues to surprise and delight in his latest release from New Directions, which collects two novellas...There are a number of similarities to be sure―they both revolve around the sudden but intense relationship between three characters, they both take place over the course of less than twenty-four hours, they are both, at turns, wildly funny.”
- Three Percent Review

“Aira’s novels parody narrative form, destroy normal cause and effect, and contain bold conceptual dialogues.”
- Michael Eaude, Times Literary Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0811221121
• ISBN 13: 9780811221122
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224