Scars (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781934824221)

"The most important Argentinian writer since Borges."--The Independent

Juan José Saer's Scars explores a crime committed by Luis Fiore, a thirty-nine year old laborer who shot his wife twice in the face with a shotgun; or, rather, it explores the circumstances of four characters who have some connection to the crime: a young reporter, Ángel, who lives with his mother and works the courthouse beat; a dissolute attorney who clings to life only for his nightly baccarat game; a misanthropic and dwindling judge who's creating a superfluous translation of The Picture Dorian Gray; and, finally, Luis Fiore himself, who, on May Day, went duck hunting with his wife, daughter, and a bottle of gin.

Each of the stories in Scars explores a fragment in time--be it a day or several months--when the lives of these characters are altered, more or less, by a singular event. Originally published in 1969, Scars marked a watershed moment in Argentinian literature and has since become a modern classic of Latin American literature.

Juan José Saer was the leading Argentinian writer of the post-Borges generation. The author of numerous novels and short-story collections (including Scars and La Grande), Saer was awarded Spain's prestigious Nadal Prize in 1987 for The Event.

Steve Dolph is the founder of Calque, a journal of literature in translation. His translation of Juan José Saer's Scars was a finalist for the 2012 Best Translated Book Award.

Author: Juan José Saer
ISBN-10: 1934824224
ISBN-13: 9781934824221
Publisher: Open Letter
Language: English
Published: 12/13/2011
Pages: 278
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.41h x 5.52w x 0.90d
Award: Best Translated Book Award - Finalist

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/10/2011 pg. 32
Booklist 11/15/2011 pg. 22
Library Journal 01/01/2012 pg. 98
Foreword 11/17/2011