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Barba, Andres (Author); Dillman, Lisa (Translator) & White, Edmund (Contributor) : Such Small Hands

Transit Books, Oakland, CA, 2017

ISBN 1945492007

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 110 pages. The third book by the author to be translated into English. One of the most important literary events of our time. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only by a small independent press. Presents Andres Barba's "Las manos pequenas" in a felicitous English translation. The world of little children, reimagined in vivid, horrific detail. "Life changes at the orphanage the day seven-year-old Marina shows up. She is different from the other girls: At once an outcast and an object of fascination. As Marina struggles to find her place, she invents a game whose rules are dictated by a haunting violence. Written in hypnotic, lyrical prose, alternating between Marina's perspective and the choral We of the other girls. Evokes the pain of loss and the hunger for acceptance" (Publisher's blurb). "Every once in a while, a novel does not record reality, but creates a whole new reality, one that casts a light on our darkest feelings. Kafka did that. Bruno Schulz did that. Now the Spanish writer Andres Barba has done it with the terrifying 'Such Small Hands' "(Edmund White, who has contributed an Afterword Essay). "He has created a world that is perfectly realized and has a craft that is inappropriate for a writer of his age" (Mario Vargas Llosa). Meaning he's awfully young to be writing at such a high level of maturity and mastery (Andres Barba turned 41 in 2017). Note, however, how these two elder-writers, very different from each other, see and admire the same imaginative impulse and triumph in Andres Barba, as he creates not "relatable" characters (our unimaginative, contemporary expectation about literature), but rather a self-contained, "Barba-esque" world of his own making, as Kafka and Schulz did, thereby recasting the real world. An absolute "must-have" title for Andres Barba collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and dated (on the day of the book launch) in black pen on the title page by the author: "Andres Barba 04/18/17". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Barba made exactly one appearance, in New York City, to launch the book. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Souvenir Announcement of the launch event during which his signature was obtained. This title will become a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and book launch-day dated copy of the First American Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: The novel was issued as a softcover original only. There is NO Hardcover Edition. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 1945492007.

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