On the Edge [Paperback]

This is the great novel of the crisis. The corrosive voice of Rafael Chirbes paints a portrait of a universe of unemployment and disappointmentthe long hangover that follows the party of corruption.A moving, densely detailed portrait of people without hope.Rafael ChirbessChirbes, one of Spains premier writers, is at his best when fully immersed, as he is in this novel. If Proust and an Old Testament prophet had collaborated to write about Spains recession, it might have been something like the writing hereagonized, dense, full of rage, and difficult to forget.Easily one of the year's finest and most important work, Chirbes's ON THE EDGE stands out as a marvel of what fiction is capable of dong (and, oh, that inescapable cover!).Utterly convincing in its psychological details, but also memorable for the beauty of its writing and rhythms.Rafael Chirbes is one of the greatest European authors of our time.Literature, as Adorno once said, is a clock that keeps ticking. But it is also the best tool for understanding the world when reality is torn to shreds. Both rules are strictly complied with by great authors. And Rafael Chirbes is one of them.