“Rocky has begun adapting César Aira’s short novel into a ciné-roman installation, short film, and book. He’s very excited about this one after getting permission from Aira’s literary agent earlier this year.
Adapting Aira’s whimsical prose with a Portuguese Renaissance aesthetic like Vasco Fernandes (Grão Vasco), Rocky’s ‘Varamo’ will be shot on location in Porto, Portugal. ”
Publisher Description
The surprising, magnificent story of a government employee who, one day, after a series of troubles, writes the celebrated masterwork of modern poetry.
Unmistakably the work of César Aira, Varamo is about the day in the life of a hapless government employee who, after wandering around all night after being paid in counterfeit money, eventually writes the most celebrated masterwork of modern poetry. What is odd is that, at fifty years old, Varamo “hadn’t previously written one sole verse, nor had it ever occurred to him to write one.”
Among other things, this novella is an ironic allegory of an artist’s vocation, inspiration, and the subtlety of artistic genius. But Aira goes further still — converting the ironic allegory into a formidable parody of the expectations that all narratives generate — by laying out the pathos of a man who between one night and the following morning is touched by genius. Once again Aira surprises us with his unclassifiable fiction: original and enjoyable, worthy of many a thoughtful chuckle, Varamo invites the reader to become an accomplice in the author’s irresistible game.