Land of Smoke

Shortlisted for the Society of Authors Premio Valle Inclán Prize

“Gallardo’s short story collection pushes the form in new and unexpected directions… This is a significant addition to South American literature in translation; the breadth of Gallardo’s imagination expands the canon.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Remarkable stories. . . a consistently surprising and enigmatic read.” — Los Angeles Times

“She writes with an air of authority (which Jessica Sequeira has translated from Spanish brilliantly) that begs your trust… Gallardo’s succinct descriptions define the tangible – the weather, the landscape, the physical circumstances – while her plots are fantastical. The former grounds the latter, making anything seem possible.” — Chicago Review of Books

“Translator Jessica Sequeira has made a fine rendition of this collection, with its several sections loosely linked by theme or motif, and its dazzling switches of narrative mode… The very short story, at which Gallardo excels, is a gift to the poet… massively ambitious, and often successful.” — Asymptote Journal

“At all turns, these stories are unsettling, surprising, and unmissable. Land of Smoke is a bountiful collection of short stories, full of sharp edges, odd magic, and unexpected allure.” —
Foreword Reviews

“[Gallardo] shines as a compassionate storyteller.” — The National
 
“The forty-six stories and fragments in Land of Smoke…offer a gamut of lengths, themes and moods… the best are diamantine, intense and violent.” — Times Literary Supplement

“[Land of Smoke] is a haunting cornucopia of the strangest fare Southern South America can possibly offer.” — Agustin Pico Estrada, Bookanista

“Masterfully crafted short stories… Gallardo’s success lies in the unusual twists and turns of her narratives… This collection should be ranked alongside other great works of fiction by Latin American female writers.” — Morning Star

“Land of Smoke is my favourite book by one of my favourite Argentinian authors.” — Samanta Schweblin, Man Booker International Prize shortlisted author of Fever Dream

“Land of Smoke dazzles in its highly personal language… glowing with the most absolute desperation and the fierce joy of discovering, capturing and sharing the glory of one’s experiences.” — Leopoldo Brizuela

“Someone who wears different coloured glasses to everybody else.” — Mercedes Halfon

“A wonderful collection. It reads like a selection from a lifetime’s work.” — 1stReading (blog)

“Sara Gallardo’s work possesses such radical originality it would be most appropriate to categorize it with the kind of literature that doesn’t seem like anything else, that doesn’t even fit the canon of the established heterodoxy, and that will always be read as a discovery.” – Martin Kohan