Saer is one of the best writers of today in any language.--Ricardo
Piglia
What Saer presents marvelously is the experience of reality, and the
characters' attempts to write their own narratives within its
excess.--Bookforum
In modern-day Paris, Pichón Garay receives a computer disk containing a
manuscript--which might be fictional, or could be a memoir--by Doctor
Real, a nineteenth-century physician tasked with leading a group of five
mental patients on a trip to a recently constructed asylum. Their trip,
which ends in disaster and fire, is a brilliant tragicomedy thanks to
the various insanities of the patients, among whom is a delusional man
who greatly over-estimates his own importance and a nymphomaniac nun who
tricks everyone--even the other patients--into sleeping with her.
Fascinating as a faux historical novel and written in Saer's typically
gorgeous, Proustian style, The Clouds can be read as a metaphor for
exile--a huge theme for Saer and a lot of Argentine writers--as well as
an examination of madness.
Juan José Saer was the leading Argentinian writer of the post-Borges
generation. The author of numerous novels and short-story collections
(including Scars and La Grande), Saer was awarded Spain's
prestigious Nadal Prize in 1987 for The Event. Five of his novels are
available from Open Letter Books.
Hilary Vaughn Dobel has an MFA in poetry and translation from
Columbia University. She is the author of two manuscripts and, in
addition to Saer, she has translated work by Carlos Pintado.
