Mar 05 2025 71 mins 39
No one is doing dystopia right now like Agustina Bazterrica.
After Tender is the Flesh made us all consider vegetarianism, now she’s back for a long hard look at patriarchy, religion and populism in The Unworthy.
It’s a quiet end of the world, set almost entirely in the confines of a strange convent, and the cult who will do anything to maintain their power.
We talk about how Agustina finds the necessary voice of her characters, why love is just another form of madness, how science-fiction just can’t look away from misogyny, and how she once read five books to find a new word for penis.
Enjoy!
Other books mentioned:
Tender is the Flesh (2017), by Agustina Bazterrica
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), by Margaret Atwood
Caliban and the Witch (2004), by Silvia Federici
Dune (1965), by Frank Herbert
A Canticle For Liebowitz (1959), by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Silent Spring (1962), by Rachel Carson
Fever Dream (2014), by Samanta Schweblin
Los Demenios En El Convento (1985), by Fernando Benitez
Brat (2024), by Gabriel Smith
The Perfect Nanny (2016), by Leila Slimani
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