Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Now available.

In his second novel, "Aphasia", Mauro Javier Cardenas stretches the limits of narrative form. Aphasia, as I once learned in medical school, is a cognitive disorder where the patient can't express themselves properly. It can be one of the signs of psychosis, a prominent part of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, which is what Antonio's sister has been diagnosed with. It's told in a series of short monologues of run-on sentences. While certain sections dragged on, I found myself still thoroughly engaged in Antonio's story, his journey as an immigrant from Bogota, his many affairs with young women as a sugar daddy, even the mundane daily tasks as an SQL corporate worker. Most interesting were the parts where his sister made an appearance. In a way, Cardenas is questioning what it means to have a plot, to have character, to have all those things that we are taught in craft seminars and what it means to tell a meaningful story. Overall, I found this book intriguing and experimental.