Title: Tender Is the Flesh Author: Agustina Bazterrica
Published: August 4, 2020
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Page Count: 224
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
Have you ever wondered what life in a world of state-sanctioned cannibalism would look like?
Probably not! But have no fear, because Tender Is the Flesh will definitely leave readers with some grotesque “what if?” scenarios floating around in thoroughly rattled imaginations. Think of the horrors of the killing floor in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, just with…tasty, tasty “special meat.” An extra layer of macabre sensationalism that’s horrible and yet…plausible.
Tender Is the Flesh is a short, punchy text that goes straight to the point: the cannibalistic meat-packing industry in a near-future world where (allegedly) a virus has made all other animals unfit for human consumption. Bazterrica isn’t overly concerned with creating a vivid backstory to this dystopian vision; readers are told what they need to know, and the blanks are left blank. Instead, the book focuses primarily on exploring the different facets of this new landscape—breeding facilities, meat processing plants, laboratories dedicated to Dr. Mengele-style experiments, game reserves where the rich and wealthy can finally make their dreams of living out Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game come true. It’s a nightmare, but ultimately possible because the author only intensifies our world as it currently exists, rather than morphing social mores to fit her story.
The vehicle for this grisly tour through socially acceptable cannibalism is Marcos Tejo, a manager at a meat processing plant. Through him, Tender Is the Flesh explores every step of the process, from the breeding facilities to the fancy butchers in the city. At some point, Marcos is gifted his own domesticated human, meant to be kept the way some hang a piece of jamón ibérico in their kitchen and slowly shave bits off as needed, only…alive…and person-shaped. Marcos gets a bit attached to his new food-source and names her Jasmine, and maybe you think Bazterrica is going to bring her protagonist to a point where he breaks down due to his complicity in a global genocide. “Surely, this is a book about society realizing the error of its ways?!” you think.
But you are incorrect!
This is not that kind of dystopian novel, my friends.
Because I can’t speak to the author’s intent or her vision when she originally wrote this book, I’m not quite sure how it should be taken. The primary purpose of Tender Is the Flesh is that it seems to be written and presented in such a way as to maximize shock value. The descriptions of the slaughter process are exquisitely detailed (but horrific). The plot moves at a steady clip and without room for reflection or contemplation. It’s all so absurd that I want to think it’s meant to be a satire à la A Modest Proposal, but I’m not sure?
In any event, Tender Is the Flesh is a memorable book! I can’t say I “enjoyed” reading it because, well…it’s a book about warehouses full of humans being bred and slaughtered to make hamburgers. It’s not quite “dystopian,” but not quite horror, either. I don’t know what to call this, but if you’d like to do some soul-searching about the kind of things society accepts just because the government says it’s okay, boy have I got a book for you!
