Five

César Aira, Chris Andrews

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Book cover for Five
Image for variant 9780811232364
Book cover for Five
Image for variant 9780811232364

Five

Five

César Aira, Chris Andrews

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Description

Five , selected from over 100 untranslated novels and stories by "the Duchamp of Latin America" (Natasha Wimmer), brings together--each an astonishing work--Margarita: A Memory, The Dream, Musical Brushstrokes, Princess Springtime, and The Hormone Pill. Following a cast of dreamlike characters including cyber nuns, a young princess forced to be a hack translator, a news-paper vendor, and General Winter and his sadistic sidekick, the Little Christmas Tree, Five shows the many facets of Aira's multifarious mind as he turns expectations inside-out and gleefully explodes genre conventions.

Five is a must-have for Aira's legion of devoted fans around the world and a fine introduction to the as-yet uninitiated. A satisfyingly hefty installment from this "exquisite miniaturist" (WSJ) and writer whose "cubist eye sees from every angle" (NYT); because "once you start reading Aira, you don't want tostop" (Roberto Bolaño).

Critical Reviews

Once you start reading Aira, you don't want to stop.--Roberto Bolaño

I get so absorbed by an Aira novel that upon finishing I don't remember anything. It's like having a complex cinematic dream that dissipates upon awakening.--Patti Smith "The New York Times Book Review"

Sui generis is really the only way to accurately describe César Aira. He's by turns a realist, a magical realist and a surrealist -- and therefore not really any of them. Anything can happen in an Aira novel, and almost everything does.--Tyler Malone "Los Angeles Times"

To love the novels of César Aira you must have a taste for the absurd, a tolerance for the obscurely philosophical, and a willingness to laugh out loud against your better judgment.--Marcela Valdes "NPR"

Everything in Aira has that Mad Scientist feel to it.--Jacob Mikanowski "The Millions"

Astonishing--turns Don Quixote into Picasso.-- "Harper's"

Aira's works are like slim cabinets of wonder, full of unlikely juxtapositions. His unpredictability is masterful.--Rivka Galchen

He summons up a genie who can do everything but fulfill our wishes.-- "New York Review of Books"

A lampoon of our need for narrative. No one today does metafiction like Aira.--Robyn Creswell "The Paris Review"

An Aesop in Breton's clothing.--Thomas Hachard "Los Angeles Review of Books"

Outlandish B-movie fantasies are all part of the game. His best-known works are nonsensically hysterical. To love César Aira you must have a taste for the absurd, a tolerance for the obscurely philosophical, and a willingness to laugh out loud against your better judgment.--Marcela Valdes "NPR Books"

Publishing Information

Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Pub date: 2026-06-30
Length: 384 pages

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