Description
Book SynopsisRoberto Arlt (1900-1942), celebrated in Argentina for his tragicomic, punch-in-the-jaw writing during the 1920s and 1930s, was a forerunner of Latin American "boom" and "postboom" novelists such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. This title presents a set against the chaotic background of Buenos Aires in the early twentieth century.
Trade Review“Arlt’s influence on figures like Borges, Cortazar, Onetti, and Piglia is substantial—and equally so are his literary reverberations today, when his grim, sordid view of life seems to speak louder than ever before.”—Ilan Stavans, editor of
Mutual Impressions: Writers from the Americas Reading One Another“Roberto Arlt is the greatest Argentine writer of the twentieth century.”—Ricardo Piglia, author of
The Absent City and
Artificial Respiration“With a novel such as
Mad Toy, brimming with fantasy and romance, yet pulling the rug out from under the protagonist—and the reader—at every turn, it seems clear that Arlt’s purpose is not just to tell a good story. Along the way, he also illustrates the uses of fantasy and humor. Fantasy, transforming the sordid into the beautiful, makes life seem sweeter; humor, exposing the illusions of fantasy, makes wisdom tolerable.”—from the Introduction
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
A Note on the Translation
Arlt’s Dedication to Ricardo Guiraldes
1. The Band of Thieves
2. Works and Days
3. Mad Toy
4. Judas Iscariot
Appendix. The Neighborhood Poet
Notes
Works Cited
