The Event

By Juan José Saer

Winner of the 1987 Nadal Prize

Blanco the Magician is renowned across Europe for his astonishing telepathic feats, dazzling audiences with the power of his mind. But when a ruthless conspiracy exposes him as a fraud, his carefully constructed world shatters. Fleeing disgrace, Blanco escapes to the remote corners of Argentina, where he begins a new life in obscurity with the beguiling and enigmatic Gina.

As Blanco struggles to rebuild his identity, he finds himself entangled in a series of events that blur the line between illusion and reality. In The Event, Juan Jos Saer weaves a hypnotic tale of deception, exile, and the search for meaning in a world where nothing is as it seems. With his signature philosophical depth and luminous prose, Saer explores themes of love, identity, and the fragile constructs that hold our lives together.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1960385437
• ISBN13: 9781960385437
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Open Letter
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Oligarchic vs. immigrant Argentina in the 19th century

THE EVENT is a first-rate ironic, even sarcastic treatment of the meeting of the two Argentinas in the second half of the 19th century, the "transparent" Argentina of the oligarchs and the "opaque" modern nation made up of European immigrants, such as the protagonist of Saer's novel. The book is a rare rendition of historical misunderstanding by one of the great Latin American narrators of our time, one who remains to be discovered in the English-speaking world