Description

Friendship makes life worth living, and worth ending too.

Eufrasia Vela is a caregiver-it’s not just her job. But when she begins working with Dona Carmen, a bedridden elderly woman who spends her days staring out the window at her now-obstructed view of the sea, she confronts the limits to her ability to help. That is, until Dona Carmen makes a big, last request: to transform her caretaking from helping her stay alive to helping her die. A good death has much in common with a good life, after all, and incapacity, loneliness, and isolation are devastations that a compassionate friend can help ease. Dignity, community, respect, and generosity-they’re what Eufrasia offers her clients, and what their friendship offers her. One Hundred Guinea Pigs is the lifegiving, warmhearted novel about euthanasia you didn’t know you needed.

Publisher Review

"Although largely about ageing and dying, Rodriguez's layered novel [...] never feels mawkish or sentimental. He treats his subject with both warmth and humour." -The Financial Times "Fast-paced and witty... Gustavo Rodriguez is a remarkable talent." -World Literature Today "Rodriguez blends fatalism and irony into the well-crafted story, while offering a sensitive depiction of euthanasia. There's much to admire in this layered tale." -Publishers Weekly "Both classic and rhythmic, the story unfolds into a lively road trip through old age. A final whirlwind before the inevitable leap: this luminous novel is a compassionate tribute to hearts and bodies that are weary yet remain defiant in the face of decrepitude." -Le Monde "A tragicomic story, moving, crafted with skill and humour." -Claudia Pineiro , author of ELENA KNOWS "Amusing and thought-provoking." -Latino Book Review "Gustavo Rodriguez skilfully captures the metaphor of life as a passage to death, navigating it with a touch of humour and dignity, devoid of moralistic overtones or sensationalism." -ABC Cultural "An appealing novel with an excellent plot development: endearing, moving, intelligent, and empowering." -Segre "Gustavo Rodriguez once again alternates between the good and the bad in life to reveal a horrible indecency. (...) Racism, economic inequality, and the contradictions of Peruvian society are elements that One Hundred Guinea Pigs inherits from his previous work [...] luminous writing." -El periodico "A work where tragedy and comedy intertwine in the exploration of the passage of time, old age, and its contradictions. [...] A masterful development that allows the voice of his country in world literature to rediscover its place, breaking free from what seemed like an eternal adolescence." -Zona de Obras "In his ninth novel the writer reveals just how little attention is paid to the elderly in our society, and advocates for worthy representation, at the same time that he challenges the taboo that is dignified death and offers a portrait of structural classism and racism in Peru. These topics could be difficult to digest, but Rodriguez seasons them with a wit that points to an astonishing literary maturity and brilliance." -Coolt "An ode to old age, a song to existence, and a tribute to those women who work, suffer, care, empathise, yearn, and, despite everything, survive." -La Razon "A story about the culture of caregiving, senectitude, the body, ageism, and death." -El Mundo