César Aira
The Seamstress and the Wind
In a small town in Argentina, a seamstress is sewing a wedding dress. All of a sudden she fears that her son has been kidnapped and driven off to Patagonia. She gives chase in a taxi. Her husband finds out and takes off after her – to the end of the world, to the place where monsters are born, and where the southern wind falls hopelessly in love.
Read an ExcerptMore Info
- Read more about César Aira on our author page.
Print status: Available
Author: César Aira
Translator: Rosalie Knecht
Original language: Spanish
Format: B-format paperback with flaps
Publication date: 21 July 2016
ISBN: 9781908276841
Ebook ISBN: 9781908276858
Availability: UK, Europe and Commonwealth (excl. Canada)
Number of pages: 144
Reviews
Patti Smith, The New York Times
The New York Times
‘I was quickly seduced by The Seamstress and the Wind, which takes place in Coronel Pringles, Argentina, Aira’s hometown. It figures he’d come from a place called Pringles, where funny music resounds and nothing ever happens, except everything.’
Arifa Akbar
Financial Times
‘Bewitching and bewildering . . . Compulsively readable . . . Aira’s writing – with its equal measures of rich complications and airy whimsies – combines brevity with so many possible meanings, or none.’
The Guardian
‘Surreal and intriguing . . . a drama is as fun as it is mystifying.’
Eileen Battersby
Irish Times
‘Wow. A virtuosic confection . . . Aira is the obvious heir to Jorge Luis Borges.’
Miranda France
Times Literary Supplement
'The Seamstress and the Wind is brilliantly, logically bonkers. In this excellent translation by Rosalie Knecht . . . the book is another strong addition to the impressive And Other Stories list.’
Roger Cox
The Scotsman
‘A work of literary trigonometry. The prose bounds along with a gleeful spring in its step, dragging the improbable story behind it . . . If you’re happy to have your buttons pushed, then you’ll fall for this shaggy-dog-story-on-shrooms, and fall hard.’
The Big Issue
‘Funny, poetic and wonderfully readable . . . Idiosyncratic and vivacious, The Seamstress and the Wind reads more like an afternoon in the pub with a dreamy Eddie Izzard than a sit-down session exploring prose form with Eimear McBride, and is all the better for it.’
Patti Smith
The New York Times
'I was quickly seduced by The Seamstress and the Wind, which takes place in Coronel Pringles, Argentina, Aira’s hometown. It figures he’d come from a place called Pringles, where funny music resounds and nothing ever happens, except everything.'
