Samanta Schweblin creates a dark and complex world that is both familiar and unsettling – largely because we recognise it as the one we live in
Mouthful of Birds
Written by Samanta Schweblin
Translated by Megan McDowell
- Original language:
- Spanish
- Longlisted
- The Man Booker International Prize 2019
- Published by Oneworld
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Spine-tingling and strange, Samanta Schweblin's writing expertly blurs the line between the surreal and the everyday
The crunch of a bird’s wing. Abandoned by the roadside, newlywed brides scream with rage as they’re caught in the headlights of a passing car. A cloud of butterflies, so beautiful it smothers. Unearthly and unexpected, Mouthful of Birds is a collection of stories that burrow their way into the psyche with the feel of a sleepless night. Every shadow and bump in the dark takes on huge implications, leaving the pulse racing; blurring the line between the real and the strange.
Samanta Schweblin
Samanta Schweblin is the author of three story collections that have won numerous awards, and she has been nominated for the International Booker Prize three times
More about Samanta Schweblin 
Megan McDowell
Megan McDowell has translated books by many contemporary South American and Spanish authors, including Samanta Schweblin, Alejandro Zambra and Mariana Enriquez
More about Megan McDowell Other nominated books by Samanta Schweblin
Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this taut, unsettling ghost story for the real world
Other nominated books by Megan McDowell
Mariana Enríquez populates contemporary urban Argentina with a macabre cast of crooked witches, unruly teenagers, homeless ghosts and hungry women
Samanta Schweblin creates a dark and complex world that is both familiar and unsettling – largely because we recognise it as the one we live in
Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this taut, unsettling ghost story for the real world