"Carlos Yushimito is one of the few writers in Latin American literature today creating new ways to look at the world."--Yuri Herrera, author of Signs Preceding the End of the World

A mascot for an electronics store dreams of making it in the drug world of Rio de Janeiro. A tin man ponders the mysteries of death as a heart starts to take charge of his limbs, while in a place not so far away a boy tries to play the piano like Margarita, the teacher's cruel and beautiful niece. In stories filled with violence and tenderness, love and disconnection, Carlos Yushimito's long-anticipated debut explores the subtle space of estrangement.

Carlos Yushimito was born in Lima, Peru, in 1977. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the best young writers in Latin America by Casa de las Americas and the Centro Onelio Cardoso de Cuba; and in 2010, by Granta as one of the Best Young Spanish Language Novelists. He recently joined the University of California, Riverside, faculty after receiving a PhD from Brown University.

Valerie Miles is an American writer, editor, and translator who lives in Barcelona. In 2003, she co-founded Granta en español. She writes and reviews for the New York Times, The Paris Review, El País, La Nación, La Vanguardia, and el ABC, among others.