About Uncle

The debut novel from an exciting young poet-novelist, Rebecca Gisler, translated by Jordan Stump, who has also translated Marie NDiaye, Marie Redonnet, Scholastique Mukasonga, and others. (Kleeman reads everything tr. by Stump)

A pandemic novelor not? Gisler's world is recognizable but never overbearing. The gently surreal setting, inhabited by strange family members and lots of clutter, recalls recent world events while making them interesting and new again.

French critics have said that About Uncle is "a tasty and strangely sweet ode to the wobbly and fragile"; "a lucid novel on disability and family ties"; "a monstrous little novel for a monstrous little man."

It is a tense novel for tense times, one that harbors no ill will for others, instead finding them frustrating, fascinating, disgusting, and ultimately lovable.

This book feels like an indie favorite with breakout appeal, similar to Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman and Olga Ravn's The Employess.

RIYL: Ottessa Mosfegh, Katherine Dunn, Alexandra Kleeman, Marie NDiaye

Joint publication with Peireine Press in the UK

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