Estranys

For Strangers, Rebecca Tamás collected together several essays from the past few years into a single volume that is brief, but holds so much depth it feels like a weighty tome. Each chapter carefully untangles another concept, such as grief or birth, and then connects it with a cultural idea or person that might be overlooked. I had to read several of the essays twice just to let them sink in. The one that unfurls Clarice Lispector's work (and the role of the nonhuman in it) was an eye-opener for me, mainly because I never made that connection to Lispector even though I am a big fan of her work. This is a marvel of a book, with strong essays and thoughtful connections, and asks for a re-reading and a re-re-reading.