This entire collection is centred around the main character Viskovitz, who is represented in each short story as a totally different animal, but who repeatedly searches for—and sometimes finds—his soulmate, Ljuba. Boffa’s sense of irony and playful inventiveness shines through in these tales, showcasing very human foibles through a series of different species and genres; his training as a biologist is clear in the amount of loving, careful detail which goes into each story. The one I’ve picked is an oddity even among this collection, as Viskovitz is a proud intersex snail who falls in love with their own body, to the chagrin of those around them.
“’This is nothing but a typical example of the collapse of gastropodic society,’ said one. ‘The “I” has replaced society and the narcissistic personality triumphs. We are falling back on the personal and the private.
I confess I was falling back on my privates rather willingly. It was one of the few advantages of not having a spine.”
First published as Sei una bestia, Viskovitz, Edizioni Garzanti, 1998, and translated as You’re An Animal, Viskovitz, Random House, 2002
A Personal Anthology 