Description: Praise for Ornamental Longlisted for the 2021 PEN Translation Award "With pitch-black comedy, Ornamental, nimbly translated by Lizzie Davis, channels the ways that egomaniacs in science and art--in any field--rise to the top, up the pyramid of capitalism. . . . [T]he rhythm of Crdenas's writing compels and reassures, as if driven by the very humanity the lab has helped suppress." --Nathan Scott McNamara, The New York Times "[A] work of subtlety and restraint. . . . What makes Ornamental so deeply affecting, however, is not that its pages come together to form a beautiful work of exterior art--though it does--but its ability to cast unease on our interior worlds. . . . Brilliantly executed and cleverly translated, Ornamental leaves us with a fresh understanding of the creation of art and the nature of meaning-making." --Dashiel Carrera, Los Angeles Review of Books "Author Juan Crdenas masterfully tells the tale of the junction of an experimenting doctor, his wife, and his subsidized voluntary narcotic patient. . . . [E]xpertly translated by seasoned editor Lizzie Davis." --Ellie Simon, World Literature Today "In spare and economical prose, Crdenas sketches a highly stratified world, where drugs link high society and neighborhoods that are 'a single crush of old houses and ruins'. . . . the overall effect offers both thrills and chills." --Publishers Weekly "[An] absurdist critique of class inequality. . . . Crdenas also dabbles in art criticism and curation and uses that knowledge to acidic effect in a social drama that borders on the phantasmagorical. . . . with captivating moments." --Kirkus "[A]n exhilarating, slippery narrative where the reader knows much truth can be found, if only they can figure out how to decipher it. . . .Crdenas's prose is economical yet lyrical; many of his images are veritable objets d'art. . . . Lizzie Davis has done a spectacular job rendering Crdenas's novel in English." --Gillian Esquivia-Cohen, Kenyon Review "Crdenas's narrative style hangs on outlines and sketches that give the short novel an allegorical heft surprising for its slimness. . . .It's in the unexpected reversal of focus, from the researcher to Number 4, from the moneyed to the impoverished, that Ornamental commits its boldest act and reminds us of the people sacrificed and ignored by the progress of science." --Sebastian Sarti, Cleveland Review of Books "Juan Crdenas is masterful in his rendering of dreamy dreams, in his evocation of workplace psychology, in his urge to keep shifting the structure of his narrative even while he consistently delivers a prose so energetic, restless, and particular that its astonishing poetic qualities--someone 'threatening pain with extortion,' someone 'signing imagined telegrams of dried monkey meat,' the night recovering, at last, 'its vulgarity'--don't give us any pause. And translator Lizzie Davis is the next generation's Natasha Wimmer, one of our most rewarding and savvy translators from the Spanish." --Forrest Gander "In this disquieting dystopia, impeccably translated by Lizzie Davis, the prose of Juan Crdenas surpasses the beauty promised by the sinister drug of happiness. A very subtle, smart book indeed." --Alia Trabucco Zern

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