Night shift

BOOK REVIEW

NIGHT SHIFT

Author: Edgardo Cozarinsky From the reader report by: Jeanette Lockington

The narration and the characters’ musings cover a range of themes, from what shapes and determines one’s identity to perceptions of reality, and the impermanence of memory, especially with aging. The clearly etched imagery evoked with careful, intelligent word choice, appropriate to the experiences lived by the characters in their geographic and emotional states, seems a character in its own right, so powerful and visceral is the writing. The prose is measured and rhythmic, poetic and mesmerizing in its flow and precision, underlining variety and imperfection in characters and life, faults and flaws, beauty and tragedy combined. Seemingly unimportant snippets from the past arise and tie events together—a poisonous spider bite treated by a witch doctor, later revealed as a spell to give the girl strength; the music of an accordion, heard when she left her drunken father to die, that presumably brought her to the concert with Rafael; the rotting of plant life in the waters that smelled like home. All of the themes, images, and plot lines merge intricately in an exploration of what makes us human and how individual experience yields unique perceptions of and responses to the living.

PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS US

TUSQUETS EDITORES

Title NIGHT SHIFT TURNO NOCHE

Author Edgardo Cozarinsky Genre Literature Pages 160

ISBN 978-84-90668-93-1 Year of publication 2021 Number of editions 1 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 17.50 €

Author’s biography: Edgardo Cozarinsky was born in Buenos Aires in 1939. He moved to Paris in 1954, and since 1988 he spends his time in both Buenos Aires and the French capital. A filmmaker as well as a writer, his films have earned awards and recognition at the Jeu de Paume in Paris and international film festivals. His literary work, sometimes including prologs by colleagues like Susan Sontag, Cabrera Infante and Ricardo Piglia, includes essays, short stories and novels. One of the awards he has received includes the Prize for Best Novel 2008-2010 from the Argentine Academy of Letters for his book Far from Where (published in 2009). In addition, he has received the Trajectory Prize from the National Arts Foundation in 2016, as well as the Prestigious Gabriel García Márquez Hispanic American Story Prize in 2018 for One Last Sip and We’ll Go. This last was described by the jury as “a work of great narrative quality, with deep roots in an old literary tradition and remarkable intellectual strength.”

Synopsis: While traveling to Buenos Aires, passing through the vast geography of Argentina, Lucía recalls her childhood in a provincial town and the private school where she was the poor girl. One day, Lucía was bitten by a venomous snake. Her friends managed to get her to a healer who, after saving her life, cast a terrible spell over her. When Lucía turned eighteen, she left the town to go to the big city, where she met Pedro, a third-year journalism student who fell in love with her. But Lucía abandoned him before long, disappearing without a trace.

Publisher: Tusquets Editores Founded in 1969, Tusquets Editores publishes literary fiction, essays, poetry, history, biography and popular science, as well as representing most of its Spanish-language authors internationally.

Publishing rights available from: Tusquets Editores - CIF A08452021 Av. Diagonal 662-664, Barcelona, Barcelona www.tusquetseditores.com Contact: Alejandra Segrelles [asegrelles@tusquets-editores.es] Phone: (+34) 932 530 400