Tender Is the Flesh
THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Tender Is the Flesh* by Agustina Bazterrica is a dark, disturbing, and unforgettable dystopian novel that powerfully explores human natur...
The best book that I will never read again.
I genuinely enjoyed the narrative but it took some WORK to get past the setting. If you can roll with the spirit of the novel then you get to see a fantastic break down of grief from a male perspective. It resonated with me in that way.
But it also put me off meat for about a week.
This book was so different than anything I have ever read. I enjoyed the comparisons that could be made to so many things about our indifference as human beings. At times it was hard to stomach but I understood that was intentional.
In this day and age, it's not hard to believe that a dystopian future is likely in store for us Earthlings. Leaves you savoring our Sunday bbqs and grill outs with the best cuts your money can buy.
I didn't see that ending coming!! At one point I thought Marcos WOULD have a happy ending despite all the hardship he faced but I was right and wrong at the same time. I feel disgust, confusion and anger all wrapped up into one. This was super easy to read and I devoured it in one sitting. The descriptions are tough to read without feeling revolted but overall this was a great book.
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