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Brickmakers

A Novel

Graywolf Press

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ISBN10: 1644450690
ISBN13: 9781644450697

Paperback

160 Pages

$16.00

CA$22.00

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Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award

Oscar Tamai and Elvio Miranda, the patriarchs of two families of brickmakers, have for years nursed a mutual hatred, but their teenage sons, Pájaro and Ángelito, somehow fell in love. Brickmakers begins as Pájaro and Marciano, Ángelito’s older brother, lie dying in the mud at the base of a Ferris wheel. Inhabiting a dreamlike state between life and death, they recall the events that forced them to pay the price of their fathers’ petty feud.

The Tamai and Miranda f­amilies are caught, like the Capulets and the Montagues, in an almost mythic conflict, one that emerges from stubborn pride and intractable machismo. Like her heralded debut, The Wind That Lays Waste, Selva Almada’s fierce and tender second novel is an unforgettable portrayal of characters who initially seem to stand in opposition, but are ultimately revealed to be bound by their similarities.

Reviews

Praise for Brickmakers

“With its surprises and lyricism, this is a successful riff on a classic Shakespearean tale.”—Publishers Weekly