In this poignant novel that brilliantly recalls both Moravia and Vargas Llosa, a man guilty of a minor offense finds an unexpected path forward by way of his punishment—reading to others.   After an accident—or “the misfortune,” as his cancer-ridden father’s caretaker calls it—Eduardo is sentenced to a year of community service reading to the elderly and disabled. Stripped of his driver’s license and feeling impotent as he nears thirty-five, he leads a dull, lonely life, chatting occasionally with the waitresses of a local restaurant or walking the streets of Cuernavaca. Once a quiet town known for its lush gardens and swimming pools, the “City of Eternal Spring” is now plagued by robberies, kidnappings, and the other myriad forms of violence bred by drug trafficking.    When he first enters into the homes of his listeners, Eduardo seems unable to connect: He movingly reads the words...

Drawing from everyday life in Mexico and abroad, these subtle, unsettling stories probe the boundaries between sanity and madness, life and death, safety and danger.The first story collection from prize-winning author Fabio Morábito available in English, Mothers and Dogs features fifteen tales that show the emotional extremes in seemingly trivial details and quotidian situations: two brothers worry more about a dog locked in an apartment who hasn’t been fed than they do about their dying mother; when the lights go out on a racetrack, a man’s evening jog turns into a savage battle between runners; a daughter learns to draft business letters as an homage to her mother.    As he deftly explores feelings of loneliness and despair endemic in modern society, Morábito weaves threads of unexpected humor and lightness.