The Year of the Crab by Mariano Peyrou, Trans. Terence Dooley
PBS Spring Recommended Translation 2019

The Year of the Crab tells the story of an endless seaside summer, or perhaps a series of summers spent in the same place. It is a musical interplay of emotions and ideas, with recurring motifs and characters, often very funny, often profound, with a sense of childhood discovery remembered in maturity, an idyll with the background voices of fear, illness and death never far away, but also with strong intimations of love, nostalgia and happiness. It is a magical poem.

"The Year of the Crab is transparent, of a transparency that is almost frightening: it speaks with the visionary ability of a child, but with the composure of an elderly man (…). It is a beautiful, marvellous tale of love and terror." (Ada Salas, Nayagua)