Mothers and Dogs

April 1, 2023
This collection of stories by Mexican author Mor�bito (Home Reading Service, 2021) features outwardly mundane situations that twist into something weird. Bauer's translation aptly embodies the dry, almost clinical narrative voices: the young man of the title story, who's so afraid of his brother's dog that he misses his mother's last moments on earth; a young woman fielding a lesbian encounter while borrowing a typewriter. Mostly set in contemporary Mexico, the stories could take place anywhere as Mor�bito's concern is the universal experience of how far thoughts can veer away from truth. The dog is actually quite docile, for example. Some stories, like the title tale, are tame and relatable, while others are bizarre, such as the one in which a grown man engages in complex machinations to get entry into his childhood apartment. Other stories are surreal and horrible, as when an older man running laps is subject to vicious treatment from other runners when the lights at the track go off in a sudden blackout.

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