Book Club! Morgan's pick: On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia

It's the powerful forces of White Whale staff picks and a community book club combined: the Pod Picks Book Club! Each month (usually on the last Thursday), a different bookseller gets to pick a book for the club to read, and they'll host the meeting, too. Book club picks will be 10% off 30 days in advance of the meeting day, to give you time to read it. And plan on grabbing a drink and a snack from the café when you come to the meeting!

Morgan's Pod Pick: On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan

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On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE

In a remote corner of Brazil, life in a forgotten Pr*son takes a sadistic, deadly turn.

On land where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered, the state built a penal colony in the wilderness, where inmates could be rehabilitated, but never escape. Now, decades later, and having only succeeded in trapping men, not changing them for the better, its operations are winding down. But in the Pr*son’s waning days, a new horror is unleashed: every full-moon night, the inmates are released, the warden is armed with rifles, and the hunt begins. Every man plans his escape, not knowing if his end will come at the hands of a familiar face, or from the unknown dangers beyond the Pr*son walls. Ana Paula Maia has once again delivered a bracing vision of our potential for violence, and our collective failure to account for the consequences of our social and political action, or inaction. No crime is committed out of view for this novelist, and her raw, brutal power enlists us all as witness.

Praise for On Earth As It Is Beneath

“On Earth As It Is Beneath is a stark, unsettling exploration of power, violence, destruction and institutional corruption that will linger with readers long after the final page.” ―Booker Prize Judges

“It all works. It is inventive and unflinching. And while the atmosphere is heavy with brutality and M**der, Maia’s prose offers the perfect counterbalance — it is beautiful and gripping. Here, a morning isn’t just bright, it shines ‘with an impenetrable whiteness that dissolved the boundaries between heaven and earth.’ That balance makes this a standout. On Earth As It Is Beneath is a must read for those who like their poetry written in blood.” —Gabino Iglesias, The New York Times

“Ana Paula Maia’s On Earth As It Is Beneath, translated with visceral precision by Padma Viswanathan, [is] searing novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony. By the time the book reaches its chilling conclusion, Maia has delivered a masterclass in suspense and allegory, a hypnotic descent into the underworld of cruelty and survival.” ―Leo Boix, Morning Star

“A fast-paced and impactful book… Ana Paula Maia treads her own path, and it’s a brutal one. All the better for us.” ―Escotilha

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