Farewell, Cowboy by Olja Savičević

Farewell, Cowboy

Olja Savičević

Feel the heat of this Croatian summer and the anguish of a girl trying to make sense of her brother's death. You'll be plunged into a strange world of absurd comedy. Hang on in there: the language is packed with weird images which coalesce into a mosaic of strong emotions. Unforgettable...

Extract
Whoever met my brother wanted to take him home, to have him nearby laughing or speaking, to be Daniel, to touch him on the shoulder, to pinch his cheek (which he hated). He had the gentleness and ferocity of a serious little man. Well, tenderness attracts people in different ways, it tempts some to crush it, I recall, people often wanted to thrash him; it gets on some people's nerves. Being just a little different was always an excellent reason for something to be destroyed.

I see them: my older sister and my younger brother sitting arguing, their heads close together, so that Ma wouldn't hear them: side by side like that, they looked like a cactus and its flower.
Parallels
  • Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
  • A Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka
  • The Round House by Louise Erdrich
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Violence
Explicit sexual content