‘Aberrant’ first look review

Marek Šindelka’s ‘Abberant’, translated by Nathan Fields and published at the end of April by Twisted Spoon Press, is featured in Words Without Borders’ May Watchlist.

“Think Orlean’s The Orchid Thief on acid. It’s all kinds of funky, and in the hands of a lesser writer (and translator), it could have been little more than a hot, indulgent mess. But Šindelka never loses his thread, which is saying something about a novel wherein losing the thread is part of the point. We’re on shaky ground in 2017, people, and Šindelka’s world of ‘aberrations, anomalies, and mistakes’ feels unnervingly timely, and is enormously fun in the bargain. Everyone wins.”