The Hero

Sanguinetti takes on the archetype of the hero from every angle— at times many simultaneously— and in a language itself heroic in its leaps and shifts and its inventive riffs that tap into ambient legend, with its steaming horses, epic journeys, and, of course, battle. Volatile style, startling content, supercharged tone— Cefola captures them all in her splendidly nuanced translation, a rare case in which nothing at all is lost, and the English language gains a powerful and beautiful book. Cole Swenson