The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

A city seethes with murderous intentions, family betrayals and morbid desires in this masterpiece of contemporary Gothic.

Welcome to Buenos Aires, a place of nightmares and twisted imaginings, where missing children come back from the dead and unearthed bones carry terrible curses.

Thrumming with murderous intentions, family betrayals and morbid desires, these stories shine a light on a violent city gripped by urban madness; giving voice to the lost, the oppressed and the forgotten. Lucid and darkly poetic, unsettling and otherworldly, these tales of revenge, witchcraft and fetishes are a masterpiece of contemporary Gothic and a bewitching exploration of the dark inclinations that threaten to lead us over the edge.

Review

After you've lived in Enriquez's marvellous brain for the time it takes to read The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, the known world feels ratcheted a few degrees off centre. Smoky, carnal and dazzling -- Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies

I loved these twisted, lustful whispers in the dark. There is serious power in this writing -- Daisy Johnson, author of Sisters

A weird and wonderful exploration of contemporary horror - cities falling apart, society turning on itself, the loneliness of the internet age. But more than that: these stories are fun. Wild, triggering, sinister, button-pushing fun -- Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies

Rotting little ghosts, heartbeat fetishes, curses and witches and meat: each of these stories is a luscious, bewitching nightmare. I adore this book -- Kirsty Logan, author of The Gracekeepers

Enriquez's work: tainted rivers, corrupted streets, spoiled meat, slain children, deeply registers the horror of known commonplace. She writes her stories, based in the atmosphere of truth, with a darkly descriptive poetic turn -- Patti Smith

Enriquez is a mesmerizing writer who demands to be read. Like Bolaño, she is interested in matters of life and death, and her fiction hits with the full force of a train -- Dave Eggers, author of The Circle

Spine-tingling but stunning... these glittering, gothic stories are a force to be reckoned with, and Enriquez's talent and fearlessness is something to behold ― Financial Times

Brilliantly unsettling... Tricking us into waiting for a ghost to "put out its head", Enriquez surprises us with real horror -- Chris Power ― Guardian

About the Author

Mariana Enriquez is an award-winning Argentine novelist and journalist, whose work has been translated into more than twenty languages. She is the author of Things We Lost in the Fire and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, which was shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. Our Share of Night was awarded the prestigious Premio Herralde de Novela.

Megan McDowell is an awardwinning Spanish-language translator from Kentucky. She has translated books by Alejandro Zambra, Samanta Schweblin, Mariana Enríquez and Lina Meruane, among others, and her short story translations have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Harper's and Tin House. She lives in Santiago, Chile.