Tender is the Flesh

Name: Tender is the Flesh
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Agustina Bazterrica
ISBN: 9781797112671

Author: Agustina Bazterrica

Narrator: Joseph Balderrama

Unabridged: 6 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 08/04/2020

Categories: Fiction, Dystopian, Hispanic & Latino, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

About 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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on November 29, 2021

I have always believed that in our capitalist, consumerist society, we devour each other. - Agustina Bazterrica This story is really disturbing, and it isn't until the very last page that it becomes clear just how deeply disturbing it is. Tender Is the Flesh is an Argentinian import from an author who......more

Goodreads review by emma on May 02, 2024

update: it has come to my attention that my original review of this sucks and is poorly phrased. i meant to say that i found this book to be trying too hard to be edgy, and that i think the point it's trying to make about factory farming is heavy handed, and that i think humans are more good than ba......more

Goodreads review by Kat on October 04, 2021

FUUUUUUUUCK ok the ending got me......more

Goodreads review by Boston on March 01, 2022

Bold of me to catch a stomach bug while reading this......more

Goodreads review by s.penkevich on May 02, 2025

Believe the hype eat your vegetables not your neighbor.......more