What’s in a name? Thoughts on publishing trends
7 Ways to Kill a Cat
Location(s): Buenos Aires
Genre(s): Crime, Fiction
Era(s): 2001
Set in a shanty-town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, this fine first novel focuses on Gringo and Chueco, both 20, who live in an eternal present of hustling for food, sex, alcohol and drugs. Neither future nor past bears thinking about, an attitude borne out in the novel’s style and structure by Néspolo’s rapid, short sentences, use of the historic present and the constant movement of his characters.
In the 1950s, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Ten years ago, its economy collapsed. The currency was worthless, jobs vanished and the poor starved, as Seven Ways to Kill a Cat, set in 2001, shows. In the background, demonstrators fight running battles with the police. In the foreground, drug-selling gangs clash to control the neighbourhood. (The Independent)
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