Fiction. Translated from the Spanish by Kurt Hollander. A strange plague appears in a large city. Rejected by family and friends, some of the sick have nowhere to finish out their days until a hair stylist decides to offer refuge. He ends up converting his beauty shop, which he's filled with tanks of exotic fish, into a sort of medieval hospice. As his "guests" continue to arrive and to die, his isolation becomes more and more complete in this dream-hazy parable by one of Mexico's cutting-edge literary stars. "Like much of Mr. Bellatin's work, BEAUTY SALON is pithy, allegorical and profoundly disturbing, with a plot that evokes The Plague by Camus or Blindness by Jose Saramago"--New York Times.

Author City: Mexico City MEX

Mario Bellatin was born in Mexico City in 1960 and studied film in Cuba. From there he moved to Peru where his literary work was introduced and began to gain fame, and various of his works were brought to the screen. After returning to Mexico, he received high praise in his own country as well, homages to his talent as a singular and risk-taking storyteller. He is the author of the short novels Mujeres de Sal, Canon Perpetuo, Efecto Invernadero, Damas Chinas, and Poeta Ciego. Salon de Belleza (BEAUTY SALON) was released in 1999 and received huge praise and wide recognition.

Reviews and Other Links
http://www.bookforum.com/review/4382
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=2150
http://www.theworld.org/2009/08/31/world-books-interview-death-and-the-beauty-salon/
http://ncbpma.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/biggs-eye-view-beauty-salon/
http://alicia-kennedy.com/blog/?p=141
http://chromajournal.blogspot.com/2009/11/review-beauty-salon-by-mario-bellatin.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/books/10bellatin.html
http://www.conversationalreading.com/2009/08/beauty-salon-by-mario-bellatin-some-thoughts.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6667261.htm.html
http://therumpus.net/2009/07/through-a-glass-darkly/#more-25652