The Dirty Kid (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 114)

4.1/5 ( ratings)

"The story you are about to read explores the relationship between an upper-class graphic designer and a homeless child. Drawing on rural mythology and the texture of everyday life in Buenos Aires, Enriquez brings two distinct Porteño social classes into direct contact with each other, illuminating both the absurdity and the logic of the divisions that exist between them. It’s an enchanting, heartrending story—and also a remarkable meditation on the nature of violence and suspicion. Enriquez is a true storyteller, and through her work, you can sense the presence of a remarkably generous spirit."

- Daniel Gumbiner, Managing Editor of McSweeney's

About the Author:

Mariana Enriquez was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1973. She has a degree in Journalism and Social Communication from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and she is the editor of Radar, the arts and culture supplement for Pagina/12. She has published two novels, Bajar es lo peor and Cómo desaparecer completamente, a collection of short stories, Los peligros de fumar en la cama, a novella, Chicos que vuelven, and a collection of travel narratives.

About the Translator:

Joel Streicker’s translations of Latin American authors have appeared in A Public Space, Subtropics, Words Without Borders, Zyzzyva, and Epiphany. He received a 2011 PEN American Center Translation Fund Grant to translate Samanta Schweblin’s collection of short stories, Pájaros en la boca. Streicker holds a B.A. in Latin American studies from the University of Michigan and a PhD in cultural anthropology from Stanford University.

About the Guest Editor:

McSweeney’s began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. That rule was soon abandoned, and since then McSweeney’s has attracted work from some of the finest writers in the country, while continuing to be a major home for new and unpublished writers. Each issue of the quarterly is completely redesigned. There have been hardcovers and paperbacks, an issue with two spines, an issue with a magnetic binding, an issue that looked like a bundle of junk mail, and an issue that looked like a sweaty human head. McSweeney’s has won multiple literary awards, including two National Magazine Awards for fiction.

About Electric Literature:

Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction.