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7 Ways to Kill a Cat

7 Ways to Kill a Cat

Author(s): Matías Néspolo

Location(s): Buenos Aires

Genre(s): Crime, Fiction

Era(s): 2001

Location

Content

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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Book Reviews

Lead Review

The streets and slums of Buenos Aires, early 2000s come to life, in this pacey first novel.

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