Mouthful of Birds
Samanta Schweblin


​Argentine author Samanta Schweblin has written a collection of surreal stories in spare prose titled Mouthful  of Birds translated by Megan McDowell.  This potent book long listed for the 2019 Man Booker Prize depicts snapshots of seemingly quotidian life, but with a jolt at the ending.  Actions are revealed. Problems unfold, but the resolutions are not what one would anticipate. Like the primary characters many of whom are unmoored, the readers are also wandering alongside roadside stops, the remote countryside, or towns where the daily train refuses to stop for passengers. Schweblin asks the reader to wander along with her patiently awaiting the unexpected curves in the road.

This stunning compilation of 20 stories is unified by the style of storytelling. There is a revealed action which happens mostly to a main character. In one story, a jilted bride is left at a roadside stop where she meets other left behind brides who all clamor over their lost loves. The surprise ending seems to indict patriarchy as the jilted brides remain stranded. In “The Test” a man believes he is being tested for his first job as a hit man and is instructed to kill a dog lounging with his pack. After a faulty start killing the dog, the man awaits the drop off for his first assignment.  Alas, he is returned back to the fountain where he must fend for himself among the remaining pack dogs.

Schweblin’s masterful stories raise existential questions.  And though situations are absurd, they raise questions about humanity—some stories reveal ethical dilemmas and others descents into madness.  What would you do if your daughter subsisted only on live birds?
Samanta Schweblin is a prolific Argentine author who has written three short story collections, one novella, Fever Dreams (2017 translated by Megan McDowell) and a novel, Little Eyes (2020, trans. Megan McDowell). She has been nominated for the Booker Prize and also the recipient of the Juan Rulfo Prize for Short Story (2012). Her work has been translated into 20 languages.

Mouthful of Birds is publication by Riverhead Books and can be purchased online at Palabras Bookstore. 
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Reviewed by
Marian Perales
​​9/6/2020
Marian Perales, an editor and historian, received her M.A. in Chicanx history from the Claremont Graduate University. She is an avid reader and book reviewer of BIPOC histories and literature. 
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