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The Imposter by Silvina Ocampo review: A glorious, unexpected joy

Jane Graham enjoys a renowned Argentinian surrealist, finally given an belated English translation

The Impostor and Other Stories by Silvina Ocampo is out now (Serpent’s Tail, £9.99)

Silvina Ocampo, the much loved Argentinian short story writer who died in 1993, is increasingly revered, particularly in South America.

Thanks to publisher Serpents Tail we in the UK can now read some of her best work. And what a glorious, unexpected joy The Imposter collection is!

Comparable to the mighty César Aira, the most surreal stories of Murakami, and her great admirers Borges and Calvino, Ocampo’s unnervingly hypnotic, frequently macabre stories are clever, funny, and brilliantly, hauntingly strange.

I devoured these ‘deliciously cruel’ (as described by Ocampo) stories in a sitting, and crave for more. 

@janeannie

The Imposter and Other Stories, Silvina Ocampo, out now on Serpents Tail, £9.99.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

You can buy The Impostor from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops

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