New Directions, 2018

Translated by Audrey Harris & Matthew Gleeson

Like those of Kafka, Poe, Leonora Carrington, or Shirley Jackson, Amparo Dávila’s stories are terrifying, mesmerizing, and expertly crafted—you’ll finish each one gasping for air. With acute psychological insight, Davila follows her characters to the limits of desire, paranoia, insomnia, and fear. She is a writer obsessed with obsession, who makes nightmares come to life through the everyday: loneliness sinks in easily like a razor-sharp knife, some sort of evil lurks in every shadow, delusion takes the form of strange and very real creatures. After reading The Houseguest— Davila’s debut collection in English—you’ll wonder how this secret was kept for so long.

*** Donated by August Raven - Please note that most books donated by the artist August Raven were signed by him in black ink on side of the book. The artist created a sculptural donation by signing book sides with india ink, his primary medium. ***