Animals
by Hebe Uhart
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Pub Date Jun 22 2021 | Archive Date Mar 21 2021
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Description
“Reading Hebe Uhart we laugh a lot, although we are never sure if what we’ve read is just a joke, because in her words there is also, above all, precision and wisdom . . .” — Alejandro Zambra
Hebe Uhart’s Animals tells of piglets that snack on crackers, parrots that rehearse their words at night, southern screamers that lurk at the front door of a decrepit aunt’s house, and, of course, human animals, whose presence is treated with the same inquisitive sharpness and sweetness that marks all of Uhart’s work.
Animals is a joyous reordering of attention towards the beings with whom we share the planet. In prose that tracks the goings on of creatures who care little what we do or say, a refreshing humility emerges, and with it a newfound pleasure in the everyday.
Watching a whistling heron, Uhart writes, “that rebellious crest gives it a lunatic air.” Birds in the park and dogs in the street will hold a different interest after reading Uhart’s blissful foray into playful zoology.
Advance Praise
“Paul Klee famously described drawing as taking a line for a walk and the stories of Hebe Uhart share that spirit, that magic. Deceptively simple, also philosophical, Uhart's work is brilliant and companionable. The Scent of Buenos Aires is translated from the Spanish by Maureen Shaughnessy, and Animals, translated by Robert Croll, is out in April next year.” -- Rivka Galchen, author of Atmospheric Disturbances, in Restless Books
"Reading Hebe Uhart we laugh a lot, although we are never sure if what we've read is just a joke, because in her words there is also, above all, precision and wisdom...Hebe Uhart's books are full of these small revelations, which are born of a religious attention to detail and an ear that clearly perceives the ups and downs of language."-- Alejandro Zambra
"Hebe approached her subjects from an astonished and oblique angle that, at first, might appear naive. Not so. Her short stories feature protagonists rarely seen in Argentine literature...Always rescuing the voices that no one pays attention to, yet not at all in a pompous way, for, if there was one thing that Hebe Uhart never wanted to do, it was to fall into the common position of giving voice to the voiceless and other slogans that she would consider idiotic."-- Mariana Enriquez, (translated by Robert Croll) Página/12
"For Hebe Uhart, "looking" was the most authentic way of writing, as if her arrested and thoughtful gaze over characters was carried into the words that formed their stories." -- Edwin Madrid
"[Uhart] is one of the most singular and exciting female voices of recent decades in Latin America. Her unique body of work and her unforgettable voice lives on in many of today's younger generation of writers emerging on the continent."-- Morning Star
"Her short stories and vignettes from daily life shimmer with truth...Fans of writers from Alice Munro to William Trevor will find Uhart's work, whenever it appears in English, a delight." -- Samuel Rutter, The Arkansas International
"Hebe Uhart's characters are made of an almost palpable material. They are alive, and they seem to emerge from the page to tell us, 'This one here is me, that one over there could be you.' How we move, how we walk, how we keep quiet: that is what Uhart observes in each of us. But also how we pause, how we sneeze, what onomatopoeias we use, how our being is revealed through everyday gestures that at times can contradict the ideas we claim to hold. It's through these minute observations, and her repudiation of generalities, that the writer unfurls her tentacles to construct her characters."-- Alejandra Costamagna, The Paris Review
"Immersing oneself in this collection - her first book to be translated into English, by Maureen Shaughnessy - is indeed like travelling, as we visit one character's world and then another's, inhabiting the revealing mundanities of each life. Little happens in terms of plot; rather, each story is an understated exercise in conjuring a whole existence through a revealing thought or gesture . . . the reader returns from her travels feeling refreshingly unbalanced."
-- Emily Rhodes (on The Scent of Buenos Aires), The Guardian
"Hebe Uhart is one of Argentina's finest storytellers."-- Asymptote Journal
"Poised somewhere between narrative and sense memory, Uhart's lens looks into sundry lives and renders the act of surveillance both venal and holy." -- Foreword Reviews
"(Uhart's stories) steadily, unobtrusively oxygenate the world around them ... Uhart helped shape a generation of writers in Argentina as both a teacher and a writer, her influence both diffuse and impossible to ignore." --Sam Carter, Music & Literature
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781939810922 |
| PRICE | $20.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 200 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Brenda C, Reviewer
Animals and birds are weird and wonderful, eccentric, full of personality and such a joy to observe! Their quirkiness, many unusual facts and observations are the premise of this engrossing book. The author includes many topics such as how animals interact amongst their own species, other animals and humans; the lengths they go to to survive; their incredible cleverness and their keen ability (and desire!) to learn. Both wild and domestic are discussed.
The author describes a love for zoology which was heightened because of a wonderful teacher...if you are passionate about a subject, you want to do well and learn more. This compendium also includes expressions and sayings relating to animals. Many parts about this book stand out to me and include the meerkat aunt who will find scorpions for her nieces and nephews but remove the stinger for them first, which animals/birds will enter a house, the way a type of lapwing ensures intruders can't escape their nests, birds capable of tying knots, the special ability of the albino cobra and the crow which hides thousands and thousands of bits of food scattered over many kilometers and remember where they are.
We don't give critters enough credit in my opinion. As a nature person who loves nothing better than being immersed in a forest for hours, nature always astonishes me. My weirdest sighting ever was once late at night seeing and thankfully photographing a large hedgehog snuggled against an enormous toad of the same size, licking it all over. The toad shifted a bit but nothing more. They sat directly below the yard light so were easy to see. Early the next morning there was no sign of either. I would love to know what this meant. This book is about behaviours and odd stories like this.
Animal and bird lovers will find loads to inform them in this short book. It would also be wonderful reading for those who simply enjoy learning. Fascinating, fascinating stuff.
My sincere thank you to Archipelago and NetGalley for providing me with this fabulous book!
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