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Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird

Stories

Translated by Sarah Moses
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About The Book

An NPR Best Book of 2023

A collection of nineteen dark, wildly imaginative short stories from the author of the award-winning TikTok sensation Tender Is the Flesh.

From celebrated author Agustina Bazterrica, this collection of nineteen brutal, darkly funny short stories takes into our deepest fears and through our most disturbing fantasies. Through stories about violence, alienation, and dystopia, Bazterrica’s vision of the human experience emerges in complex, unexpected ways—often unsettling, sometimes thrilling, and always profound. In “Roberto,” a girl claims to have a rabbit between her legs. A woman’s neighbor jumps to his death in “A Light, Swift, and Monstrous Sound,” and in “Candy Pink,” a woman fails to contend with a difficult breakup in five easy steps.

Written in Bazterrica’s signature clever, vivid style, these stories question love, friendship, family relationships, and unspeakable desires.

About The Author

Photograph by Lina Botero
Agustina Bazterrica

Agustina Bazterrica, born in Buenos Aires in 1974, has a degree in arts from the University of Buenos Aires and works as a cultural manager and jury member in various literary contests. She is the author of the short story collection Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, and the novels Matar al niña and Tender Is the Flesh, the latter of which was awarded the Clarín Novel Prize. Tender Is the Flesh established Bazterrica as a bestselling author worldwide, with translations into thirty languages and half a million copies sold in English alone. Tender Is the Flesh is currently being adapted for television. Her latest novel, The Unworthy, was published in Spanish in 2023 and received the same enthusiastic reception as Tender Is the Flesh, affirming Bazterrica’s status as a prominent author in contemporary literature.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Scribner (June 20, 2023)
  • Length: 176 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668012673

Raves and Reviews

A USA Today Bestseller
One of Book Riot's Best Horror Books of 2023


“Fresh and unnerving."
—New York Times Book Review

“Provocative… Vivid and bizarre, this will entrance.”
—Publishers Weekly

"Dark, funny, weird, unique...the novel Tender is the Flesh placed Bazterrica on a lot of people’s radar and made her a popular author in the United States, but the variety, originality, and strength of this collection cement her as one of the most exciting contemporary voices in speculative fiction."
—Locus Magazine

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More books from this author: Agustina Bazterrica