Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
“Aira delivers one surreal unraveling of reality after another that proceeds paradox by paradox into psychic realms.” Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times
Review
“Cesar Aira is wild. The laws of gravity do not apply.” James S.A. Correy, The Denver Post
Review
“Irreverent inventiveness … without analogue in contemporary literature.” Megan Doll, San Francisco Chronicle
Review
“Uncanny imagination a la Calvino.” Laura Pearson, The Chicago Tribune
Review
“With many prolific writers it’s a case of diminishing returns. César Aira, who’s published over eighty books with more to come, is an exception, his open-ended, genre trespassing novellas attesting to his peculiar virtuosity.” John Madera, Big Other
Review
“Aira’s novels parody narrative form, destroy normal cause and effect, and contain bold conceptual dialogues.” Michael Eaude, Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
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. 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 the Author
Nominated for a Neustadt Award and shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize, César Aira was born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina, in 1949. He has published at least ninety books.
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.