Books by Mariana Enriquez
“The story is mainly about a man who is part of a cult. There are certain sensitive individuals who are selected by this cult, and used to conduct a ritual that makes contact with something. The cultists themselves, even the ones at the top, really don’t know what they’re doing. They know they make contact with this thing, and it helps keep them rich and powerful. And yes, it does involve children being sacrificed, and they do have them in cages down in a tunnel by the river, and we don’t talk about that… The main character does not want his son to get trapped by these assholes. He wants to keep him away, and that’s the main thrust of the plot. The way the magic is worked into the story is so deft” Read more...
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories
by Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell
“This is a collection of ghost stories. Enríquez uses the conventions of gothic horror and the macabre to write these brilliantly strange parables about the modern world. Her settings are detailed and concrete and realistic, mainly in Buenos Aires—she’s an Argentinian writer. The stories are very unsettling. But they’re also colourful and flamboyant, and sometimes disconcertingly funny, and always icily intelligent. They have the energy of ghosts that just won’t agree to be exorcised.” Read more...
The Best of World Literature: The 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist
Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Biographer
Interviews where books by Mariana Enriquez were recommended
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1
At Night All Blood Is Black
by David Diop, translated by Anna Moschovakis -
2
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories
by Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell -
3
When We Cease to Understand the World
by Benjamin Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West -
4
The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century
by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken -
5
In Memory of Memory
by Maria Stepanova, by Sasha Dugdale -
6
The War of the Poor
by Éric Vuillard, translated by Mark Polizzotti
The Best of World Literature: The 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
The Best of World Literature: The 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Every year the International Booker Prize judges read dozens of novels from around the world, which are newly translated into English. Here Lucy Hughes-Hallett—award-winning author and chair of this year’s judging panel—talks us through the six books that made their 2021 shortlist of the best world literature.
The Best Weird Fiction Books, recommended by Michael Cisco
Weird fiction uses the supernatural to throw all our experience into doubt, says author and academic Michael Cisco. He introduces us to five favourites, featuring everything from ghosts to fairies to cults – all subtly constructed, infused with real human feeling, and calculated to perturb.
Notable New Novels of Fall 2022, recommended by Cal Flyn
Fall is a busy time in publishing, as the biggest names in fiction prepare to release new books in the months leading up to Christmas. Here, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn rounds up some of the most notable novels of Fall 2022—including two new books from the great American novelist Cormac McCarthy and a sumptuous work of historical fiction from Maggie O’Farrell.
