Though it is set in sixteenth-century Venice, Federico Andahazi's The Anatomist could not be more contemporary in its wit, its ironic turns, and its themes of hypocrisy, censorship, and the nature of sexuality--so much so, in fact, that it was denounced by the wealthy sponsor of Argentina's prestigious Fortabat Prize, sparking a literary scandal and charges of modern-day censorship that eerily echoed the book's major themes. As the novel opens, Mateo Colombo, the most famous physician in Renaissance Italy, finds himself behind bars at the behest of Church authorities. He has been charged with heresy, but not for organizing a clumsy team of body snatchers to feed his anatomical research, nor for his obsessive pursuit of Mona Sofia, Venice's most beautiful prostitute. His crime is even more heinous, not only heretical in the Church's eyes, but equally subversive of the whole secular order of Renaissance society. Like his namesake Christopher Columbus, he has made a discovery of enormous significance for mankind. But whereas Christopher voyaged outward to explore the world and found America, Mateo looked inward, across the mons veneris, and uncovered the clitoris. Based on historical fact, The Anatomist is an utterly fascinating excursion into Renaissance Italy, as evocative of time and place as the work of Umberto Eco. Above all, it is an audacious novel, exposing not only the social hypocrisies of the day, but also the prejudices and sexual taboos that may still be with us four hundred years later. Brilliantly translated from the Spanish by Alberto Manguel, The Anatomist introduces American readers to a new writer of consummate wit and subversive flair.

The Anatomist

Literature & Fiction

ANDAHAZI, FEDERICO

Literary

DOUBLEDAY

A lyrically written, sensual, and extraordinarily enjoyable novel in which a Renaissance anatomist's astonishing discovery forever changes the female erotic universe. In sixteenth-centruy Venice, celebrated physician Mateo Colombo finds himself behind bars at the behest of the Church authorities. His is a crime of disclosure, heinous and heretical in the Church's eyes, in that his research threatens to subvert the whole secular order of Renaissance society. Like his namesake Christopher Colombus, he has made a discovery of enormous significance for humankind. Whereas Colombus voyaged outward to explore the world and found the Americas, Mateo Colombo looked inward, across the mons veneris, and uncovered the clitoris. Based on historical fact, The Anatomist is an utterly fascinating excursion into Renaissance Italy, as evocative of time and place as the work of Umberto Eco, and reminiscent of the earthy sensuality of Gabriel García Márquez. Perceptive and stirring, it ironically exposes not only the social hypocracies of the day, but also the prejudices and sexual taboos that may still be with us four hundred years later.

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Publicada por aclamación pública en Argentina, El anatomista de Federico Andahazi lleva a los lectores a Venecia en el siglo XVI. Pues este es el momento y el lugar donde Mateo Colón, el anatomista, está a punto de hacer un descubrimiento insólito: el centro del universo erótico en la mujer. Colón siempre se ha visto a si mismo como un hombre de razón y ciencia en una época muy supersticiosa. Pero hasta él se ve tentado a utilizar el arte quimérico, cuando se enfrenta al antiguo reto, que puede destruir las más grandes mentes: Cómo hacer a una mujer profunda y deliciosamente feliz? El anatomista nos recuerda el alcance del exuberante sentido histórico de Umberto Eco, y el ingenio desinhibido y sensual de Gabriel García Márquez. Con prosa tan delicada y suelta como una manta de seda, Federico Andahazi lleva a sus lectores en un viaje provocativo, recordándoles un territorio que jamás será completamente conquistado, pero cuya exploración y descubrimiento nos brindan satisfacción interminable. Autor bestseller en Argentina, su país de origen, Federico Andahazi nació en Buenos Aires en 1963. Sus cuentos han recibido muchos premios y El anatomista es su primera novela.

El Anatomista: Novela (Spanish Edition)

United States

It is Switzerland, 1816. Percy Shelley and his wife Mary, and Byron's physician Dr Polidori are ensconced in the Villa Diodati. Polidori enters a Faustian pact with Annette Legrand, where she will produce a vampire tale for him. What can he, in return, offer this ghostly female predator?

The Merciful Women

Federico Andahazi author of the critically acclaimed novel El Anatomista, weaves a Faustian tale of envy, lust and self destruction, around the historically familiar backdrop of Lord Byron and his libertine colleagues in 1816 Geneva. This atmospheric and erotic story follows the pursuits of Byron's personal secretary John Willian Polidri, whose all consuming envy of his employer and his literary friends leads him to strike a deal with a monster in the guise of a woman who promises him literary fame in return for his sperm. The reader follows Polidri's descent into madness as he discovers the true nature of the pact he has made and its consequences. Federico Andahazi has written a provocative gothic tale reminiscent of the literary classics Jane Eyre and Goethe's Faust.

Las piadosas

Science Fiction & Fantasy

New Media Spanish Language

A retelling of the birth of the Gothic novel explores the events inside a Swiss villa in the summer of 1816, when Percy and Mary Shelley, Mary's sister, and Lord Byron engaged in a Gothic novel writing contest.

Grove Pr

The second novel from the best-selling Argentine author of The Anatomist, The Merciful Women is a brilliant retelling of the birth of the Gothic novel. In the summer of 1816, Percy and Mary Shelley, Mary's sister, and Lord Byron hid themselves away in a Swiss villa, whiling away rainy afternoons with the Gothic novel contest that would produce Frankenstein. Andahazi's reimagining focuses on the fifth competitor: John Polidori, Byron's manservant, a talentless hack resentful of the ease of his master's life. Through a Faustian pact with an unseen intercessant, Polidori obtains the most compelling vampire story ever written. But "The Vampyre" has striking similarities to Polidori's benefactor and to what she asks of him in return. Opium, erotica, and decadence meld into a sly and stylish novel about literary ambition, talent, and inspiration. "A hoot ... a Voltaire-like skewering of the myth of genius. Andahazi can remind you of vintage Terry Southern." -- Richard Wallace, The Seattle Times "Playful, satiric, erotic, sometimes savage, sometimes slapstick ... something completely different, and well worth reading. -- San Francisco Chronicle "As a piece of mock-scholarly, wickedly ironic entertainment, it is an utter delight." -- Publishers Weekly "This literary tour de force cum vampire tale will leave the reader gasping-from laughter and horror by turns." -- The Baltimore Sun

Contemporary

GROVE PRESS

The Anatomist de Andahazi Federico. Doubleday, 1998.

Anatomist

Sports & Outdoors

Individual Sports

Spine creased, cover worn, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Anchor

Im Land der Venus

Fischer Krüger

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Books by ANDAHAZI, FEDERICO

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The Anatomist

The Anatomist

El Anatomista: Novela (Spanish Edition)

The Merciful Women

Las piadosas

The Merciful Women

The Merciful Women

Anatomist

The Anatomist

Im Land der Venus