Mouthful of Birds (Spanish: Pájaros en la boca) is a short story collection by Samanta Schweblin. Originally published in Spanish, it was translated into English by Megan McDowell in 2019.[1][2] The stories feature uncanny plot twists and unexpected endings.

Mouthful of Birds
First edition (Spanish)
AuthorSamanta Schweblin
Original titlePájaros en la boca
TranslatorMegan McDowell
LanguageSpanish
GenreShort Stories
PublisherEmecé Editores (Argentina)
Publication date
2009
Publication placeArgentina
Published in English
2019
Media typeHardcover
Pages240
ISBN978-0399184628

"Olingiris" first appeared in English in a 2010 issue of Granta.[3] In 2017 "The Size of Things" was published in The New Yorker.[4] In 2019 "Toward Happy Civilization" was published in The Atlantic[5] and was read aloud by LeVar Burton for the Stitcher Radio podcast LeVar Burton Reads.[6]

Contents

edit
Story
"Headlights"
"Preserves"
"Butterflies"
"Mouthful of Birds"
"Santa Claus Sleeps At Our House"
"The Digger"
"Irman"
"The Test"
"Toward Happy Civilization"
"Olingiris"
"My Brother Walter"
"The Merman"
"Rage of Pestilence"
"Heads Against Concrete"
"The Size of Things"
"Underground"
"Slowing Down"
"On the Steppe"
"A Great Effort"
"The Heavy Suitcase of Benavides"

Literary significance and reception

edit

Like Schweblin's novel Fever Dream, Mouthful of Birds received enthusiastic reviews.

The Guardian wrote, "Delving into the cryptic depths of the human psyche, this is a highly imaginative and thought-provoking collection."[7] A review in the Los Angeles Review of Books concluded, "One of the greatest effects of Schweblin's writing is the sensation of having a trapdoor kicked open in your own mind — of not knowing this weird space even existed, but of course. There you are."[8]

Book critic Michael Schaub said of the collection: "Mouthful of Birds is a stunning achievement from a writer whose potential is beginning to seem limitless."[9]

Parul Sehgal, writing in The New York Times, noticed a variety of influences in Schweblin's stories, including Jesse Ball, Kelly Link, but, most of all, David Lynch.[10]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Samanta Schweblin". Granta Magazine. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  2. ^ "Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  3. ^ "Olingiris". Granta Magazine. 2010-11-25. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  4. ^ Schweblin, Samanta (2017-05-22). "The Size of Things". ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  5. ^ "Toward Happy Civilization". The Atlantic. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  6. ^ "'Toward Happy Civilization' by Samanta Schweblin". Stitcher. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  7. ^ Beckerman, Hannah (2019-02-17). "Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin review – surreal and unsettling". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  8. ^ McNamara, Nathan Scott. "Emergency Lights Blinking: On Samanta Schweblin's 'Mouthful of Birds'". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  9. ^ "Existential Dread Is Deceptively Simple In 'Mouthful Of Birds'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  10. ^ Sehgal, Parul (2019-01-01). "In Stories From an Argentine Surrealist, Circles of Madness and Violence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-01.