Things We Lost in the Fire (story collection)
Short story collection by Mariana Enriquez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories (Spanish: Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego) is a short story collection by Mariana Enriquez, published in 2016 by the Editorial Anagrama.[1] Originally published in Spanish, it was translated into English by Megan McDowell in 2017.[2] The work has 12 stories framed in the horror genre, in which Enríquez explores social issues such as depression, poverty,[3] eating disorders,[4] inequality and gender violence.[5][6] The name of the work is taken from the album Things We Lost in the Fire, released in 2001 by the American band Low, of which Enríquez is a fan.[7]
First edition | |
| Author | Mariana Enriquez |
|---|---|
| Original title | Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego |
| Translator | Megan McDowell |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Short Stories |
| Publisher | Anagrama |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Publication place | Argentina |
Published in English | 2017 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 208 |
| ISBN | 978-0451495112 |
"The Intoxicated Years" was published in Granta.[8] "Spiderweb" appeared in The New Yorker.[9]
Contents
| Story |
|---|
| "The Dirty Kid" |
| "The Inn" |
| "The Intoxicated Years" |
| "Adela's House" |
| "An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt" |
| "Spiderweb" |
| "End of Term" |
| "No Flesh Over Our Bones" |
| "The Neighbor's Courtyard" |
| "Under the Black Water" |
| "Green Red Orange" |
| "Things We Lost in the Fire" |
Literary significance and reception
Reviews of the collection highlighted Enriquez's dark and haunting style. A review in The Guardian called the collection "gruesome, violent, upsetting – and bright with brilliance."[10] Jennifer Szalai, writing in The New York Times, wrote "[Enriquez] is after a truth more profound, and more disturbing, than whatever the strict dictates of realism will allow."[11]
In a review in Vanity Fair, Sloane Crosley was impressed by Enriquez's skill at using supernatural stories to explore Argentina's political turmoil: "In her hands, the country’s inequality, beauty, and corruption tangle together to become a manifestation of our own darkest thoughts and fears."[12]