Luis Mey

Argentina

©Andrea Stefanoni

 

 

Luis Mey was born in Buenos Aires in 1979. He studied Law at the University of Buenos Aires and has already written numerous articles for the prestigious Argentinean literary magazines Ñ and La Gaceta de Tucumán. His debut novel Los abandonados received great critical acclaim and was selected for the anthology 12 Argentinean authors, which was presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair.

 

 

In Los abandonados (“The Forsaken”), Luis Mey depicts a unique character both hateful and likeable, who tries to cope with life in his own way. His uncompromising honesty, his unexpected sensivity and his intelligence render him human, his destructive streak evokes empathy. Written in direct language that draws its strength from its crass sobriety, Los abandonados immediately captivates the reader with its controversial protagonist.

 

Los abandonados submerges us with alarming effortlessness into an agile story with violently short sentences, which delight us with a frenetic narration and a surprising capacity for providing dozens of remarkable quotes.

Minutouno

 

 

Las garras del niño inútil (“The Talons of the Useless Boy”) gives us a unique insight into the inferno growing up can become. Maxi’s life is ruled by the daily fear of upsetting his alcoholic father and the shame he feels for his parents. When he is forced to give up the one thing he loves, Maxi’s whole life changes completely. With his concise style, Luis Mey creates a strong sense of immediacy.

 

Luis Mey is a promising author.

La Gaceta

 

You read tragic, fierce, deeply upsetting stories, and still you wish they would never end.

Clarín

 

 

 

A two-voiced narration, a tale told by accomplices, Tiene que ver con la furia (“Has to Do with Fury”) achieves the unusual: it tells two individual stories that, in spite of the details that distinguish them, are melded together in one. The story of an abandoned love that turns into productive vengeance through the controlled fury of writing. Literature, this notable novel reminds us, is always revenge. Anyone capable of writing down their disillusionment, their rage, their loss, will always come out the winner despite all appearances.

Sylvia Molloy

 

 

Novels:

 

Los abandonados

Buenos Aires: Factotum 2008, 179 p.

Selected for the anthology 12 autores argentinos, which was presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair

 

Las garras del niño inútil

Buenos Aires: Factotum 2010, 222 p.

German sample translation available

 

Tiene que ver con la furia

With Andrea Stefanoni

Buenos Aires: Emecé/Planeta, forthcoming in 2012