Monstrilio

Description

By (author) Gerardo Samano Cordova

Short /annotation:
A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Samano Cordova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.

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Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago”s lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family”s decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses-though curbed by his biological and chosen family”s communal care-threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Samano Cordova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.

Review quote:

· “Gerardo Sámano Córdova’s dark, soulful magic puts me in mind of Kelly Link or Carmen Maria Machado (and further back, Mary Shelley). The horror of grief has rarely been so viscerally or movingly evoked.” Peter Ho Davies, author of A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself

· “Monstrilio is unlike any other book I’ve read. Genuinelyscary at times, it moved me with its humanity, made me laugh, and ultimately,made me cry. Gerardo Sámano Córdova has written a stunning exploration ofgrief, belonging, and familial love in prose so beautiful you won’t want torush through it—even as you need to know what happens next.” Ana Reyes, authorof The House In The Pines

· “An extraordinary act of imagination, an extended meditation that begins in grief, family, belonging, and moves past that, into a deeper discovery of the power of love— and the powerlessness of love, as well its strangeness. With Monstrilio, Sámano Córdova makes a remarkable, kaleidoscopic debut.” Alexander Chee, author of How To Write An Autobiographical Novel

· “Simply exquisite. Easily one of my favorite reads this year.” SarahGailey, bestselling author of Just Like Home and The Echo Wife

· “Haunting and often bleakly humorous, Gerardo Sámano Córdova’s Monstriliois a captivating tone poem of trauma, grief, and transformation. Córdova writeswith the lyrical precision of a master surrealist and creates an uncompromisingvision of literary horror that is so wholly unique and utterly his own.” EricLaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

· “In Gerardo Sámano Córdova’s spare, soulful, and singular Monstrilio,a mother’s grief turns monstrous, literally taking on a life of its own. Astender and terrifying as its titular character, Monstrilio is just aslikely to work its way into your heart as into your nightmares. Prepare tounhinge your jaw and devour it whole.” Maria Adelmman, author of Girls Of ACertain Age and How To Be Eaten

· “Monstrilio is the monster story about grief I’ve beencraving. Bloody and full of longing, it gets under your skin and doesn’t letyou go. A thrilling and heartbreaking ride from Mexico City to NYC to Berlin,brilliantly capturing what it means to lose someone you love with ferocioustenderness. Gerardo Sámano Córdova is an international revelation and one ofthe boldest new voices writing today.” Akil Kumarasamy, author of Meet Us ByThe Roaring Sea and Half Gods

· “An unearthly hybrid that’s