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Distributed for Seagull Books

Animals

Eight Studies for Experts

Translated by Simon Pare
A collection of unique, profound, and witty stories that relate animals’ peculiarities to human attitudes.

Animals is a collection of short stories in which each story takes a peculiar item about animals that appears, like fables, to shine a spotlight on different aspects of human behavior—like caterpillars digging their own graves, sharks in need of artificial respiration, ducks that keep an eye out for hungry predators even in their sleep. It is a treat to watch Eva Menasse spin these observations into scenes of people battling their everyday anxieties and doubts. An old tyrant realizes that he is unable to prevent his wife’s worsening dementia from erasing his own past as it erases hers. A mother who tries to protect a Muslim child from hostile accusations finds that her own boundaries between good and evil begin to blur. A woman realizes how starkly her father’s traumatic past has shaped her quirky habits and deepest fears. Combining biting wit, mystery, and melancholy, these tales are the work of a masterful storyteller.

312 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2023

The German List

Fiction


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Reviews

"Interested in the silenced feelings of isolation, frustration, and anger experienced by individuals entangled in close family relationships, the short stories collected in Animals explore histories that are both personal and historical."

Foreword Reviews

Table of Contents

1.Butterfly, Bee, Crocodile
2.Caterpillars
3.Hedgehog
4.Sheep
5.Opossum
6.Sharks
7.Snakes
8.Ducks

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