A novel by Mario Levrero, translated by Annie McDermott
May 21, 2019 • 5 x 7.75 • 152 pages • 978-1-56689-546-0
From a legendary cult figure in Latin American literature, the story of a writer who obsessively observes his own handwriting in search of answers about his identity.
An eccentric novelist begins to keep a notebook of handwriting exercises, hoping that if he’s able to improve his penmanship, his personal character will also improve. What begins as a mere physical exercise becomes involuntarily colored by humorous reflections and tender anecdotes about living, writing, and the sense—or nonsense—of existence.
About the Author
Mario Levrero was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1940 and died there in 2004. Levrero was a photographer, bookseller, comics scriptwriter, humorist, crossword author, and creator of brain games. In his later years, he directed a literary workshop. Empty Words is his first novel translated and published in English.
Annie McDermott’s translations from Spanish and Portuguese have appeared in Granta, the White Review, Asymptote, Two Lines, and World Literature Today, among others.