Mrs. Murakami's Garden - Paperback

by Mario Bellatin (Author), Heather Cleary (Translator)

From the groundbreaking author of Beauty Salon, The Large Glass, Jacob the Mutant, Mario Bellatin delivers a rousing, allegorical novel following the widowed keeper of a mysterious garden. When art student Izu's teacher asks her to visit the famous collection of Mr. Murakami, she publishes a firm rebuttal to his curation. Instead of responding with fury, the rich man pursues her hand in marriage.

When we meet her in the opening pages, Mrs. Murakami is watching the demolition of her now-dead husband's most prized part of the estate: his garden. The novel that follows takes place in a strange, not-quite-real Japan of the author's imagination. But who, in fact, holds the role of author? As Mr. Murakami's garden is demolished, so too is the narrative's authenticity, leaving the reader to wonder: did this book's creator exist at all?

Mario Bellatin has revolutionized the state of Latin American literature with his experimental, shocking novels. With this brand-new, highly anticipated edition of Mrs. Murakami's Garden from lauded translator Heather Cleary, readers have access to a playful modern classic that transcends reality.

Author Biography

Heather Cleary is a translator, writer, and one of the founding editors of the digital, bilingual Buenos Aires Review. Her translations and literary criticism have appeared in Two Lines, A Public Space, and Words Without Borders, among other publications. She is the translator of Roque Larraquy's 2018 National Book Award-nominee Comemadre (Coffee House Press, 2018), Sergio Chefjec's The Planets (2013) and The Dark (2014), and Girondo's Poems to Read on a Streetcar. She holds an MA in Comparative Literature from NYU and a PhD in Latin American and Iberian Cultures from Columbia University. She currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.