Rage

“Fast-paced and entrancing psychological thriller”—Booklist

"A portrait etched in acid of a Buenos Aires society menaced by economic and political crisis. Without value judgement but with light irony, Bizzio reveals the ugly secrets of a family, seen through the eyes of his naïve squatter. The imagery is often blinding and the dialogue pitch-perfect."—Le Temps

José María, a construction worker, is in love with Rosa, a maid in an exclusive Buenos Aires mansion. Subjected to constant humiliation by his foreman, José María kills him, then hides on an empty floor in the mansion. He silently observes the decadent behavior of the owners and watches Rosa in her most intimate moments. José María is also privy to more humiliating experiences—he watches as Rosa is raped by the young son of the family, and so he must kill again.

A metaphor for the decline of a social class, a country, and the resentment that spreads like a plague penetrating to the core of its people, Rage is also a tale of love and suspense that raises the tension with each successive page until it unavoidably shifts toward an intimate, shattering catastrophe. Humor, misfortune, shrewd social commentary, and thrilling erotic fantasy come together, offering the reader an inside vision of contemporary Argentina.

Film adaptation of Sergio Bizzio’s Rabia, produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Sebastián Cordero, was presented at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

Crime and erotic fantasy meet in a vitriolic portrait of Buenos Aires society.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

This surprisingly moving novel shows that in the hands of the right author almost any setup can be invested with depth and emotion. Construction worker José María Negro falls for Rosa Verga, a housemaid for an affluent Buenos Aires family, whom he meets at a grocery. Their relationship blossoms, despite Negro's struggles to control his explosive temper. His anger gets the best of him, unfortunately, and he bludgeons his foreman to death. Negro comes up with the idea of squatting on the upper floor of the villa where his lover works, and lives vicariously through his observations of Verga and her employer's family. Remarkably, Bizzio manages to make the creepy voyeur sympathetic, despite his murderous nature and his growing detachment from reality. The powerful prose and characters make a strong case for English translations of the Argentinian author's six other novels. The forthcoming film adaptation by Guillermo del Toro should boost sales.
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Novelist, playwright, poet, and screenwriter, the Argentinian writer Sergio Bizzio has already made his own debut as a film director with "Animals", which received the Opera Prima award for Best Screenplay from the National Institute of Cinematography in Argentina. His short story "Cinismo" was made into a film. "Rage" is his sixth novel. Amanda Hopkinson is a well known literary translator, most recently of The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho, Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia and Dead Horsemeat by Dominique Manotti.