The Black Box - by Mata Kastrisiou (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Atmospheric short stories from a wry, keen-eyed observer

Fierce and sophisticated, dark and dreamy, The Black Box is a collection of transgressive, poetic fiction by Mata Kastrisiou. Each story reveals an unsettling vision of the fantastic merging with the everyday. A homeless person beds down for the night on New Year's Eve, schoolchildren compete for a trip to meet their favorite cartoon character, a murderous domestic melodrama unfolds on a distant asteroid, an elderly man reckons with his failing memory on an empty beach--Kastrisiou explores these points of view and more with economy of language and acute social consciousness. Ranging from the darkly comic to the tender and gently melancholy, Kastrisiou writes with empathy, lack of pretense, and a deep insight into our shared humanity. Now in English for the first time, this writer of rare sensibility is sure to entrance readers of Kate Folk, Edouard Louis, and Ottessa Moshfegh.

Review Quotes

"Mata Kastrisiou creates fierce and implacable fables which seem to combine the earthy vigor of Bruno Schulz and the nightmare clarity of Anna Kavan. Each goes off like a flare, lighting up a miniature landscape of ominous implication and sudden beauty." --Jonathan Lethem, author of Brooklyn Crime Novel

"Sly and wild, with the feral, unshakeable logic of a dream, each piece in this stunning collection is a passport to a singular universe. Haunting, sometimes sinister, and always beautiful, these stories will refuse to let you go." --Sarah McCarry, author of The Darling Killers

About the Author

Mata Kastrisiou is a writer, actor, and documentary film editor from Athens. She teaches writing in Greek public schools and other non-formal spaces. She is the author of two books; Hallo, Cosmonaut (Apopeira, 2021), and The Black Box, published in Greek as Garbage Trucks at 6 a.m. (Eridanus, 2013), shortlisted for the Greek State Literary Prize for Debut Author.

Kostas Kaltsas is an author and translator living in Athens, Greece. His translations into Greek includes works by David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Lethem, and Ishmael Reed.