The Scent of Buenos Aires
Stories by Hebe Uhart
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize
From one of Argentina’s greatest contemporary storytellers, this collection gathers twenty-five of her most remarkable and incandescent short stories in English for the first time
The Scent of Buenos Aires offers the first book-length English translation of Uhart’s work, drawing together her best vignettes of quotidian life: moments at the zoo, the hair salon, or a cacophonous homeowners association meeting. She writes in unconventional, understated syntax, constructing a delightfully specific perspective on life in South America. These stories are marked by sharp humor and wit: discreet and subtle—yet filled with eccentric and insightful characters. Uhart’s narrators pose endearing questions about their lives and environments—one asks “Bees—do you know how industrious they are?” while another inquires, “Are we perhaps going to hell in a hand basket?”
“Uhart’s stories are concise and filled with both dry and conversational wit and flashes of poignant insight . . . slice-of-life writer . . . ” —Thrillist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This collection from Uhart (1936 2018), her first to be translated into English, introduces new readers to a refreshing and unique writer. Uhart's stories are written in a voice that's frank, almost conversational, and occasionally humorous, but they land with surprising gravitas. In "The Stories Told by Cecilia's Friends," the titular stories, though mundane, turn out to be oddly prescient for Cecilia, inducing a new outlook on life. Though none are very long, Uhart's briefest tales are snatches of a scene ("At the Hair Salon"), allegorical ("Christmas Eve in the Park"), or have the tone of a bedtime tale ("The Boy Who Couldn't Fall Asleep"). While some nail their intent, such as "At the Hair Salon," which nicely encapsulates the perfect storm of vanity and gossip in a hair salon, or "Hello Kids," in which children sharply observe animals at the zoo, others can feel like filler, such as "My New Love," which uses lover's language to describe a dog. Still, there's a wonderfully off-kilter humanity to Uhart's writing that readers are sure to respond to. This collection feels like a deserved celebration of a writer's career.
