"the main character is completely obsessed with maintaining authenticity, and is deeply frustrated by his co-worker, who is always breaking character, and by the inanity of the visitors who come and don't really appreciate the prowess involved in his work. There are also corporate overlords, who are never seen. My favorite detail from the story has to do with the fact that the cavemen-actors are supposed to roast goats, which sometimes appear and sometimes don't-it's up to the overlords-"
"It definitely deals with the heaviest of subjects-death, war, betrayal. But it also has a gallows humor to end all gallows humor. The titular story is about an assassin who is having an extremely bureaucratic exchange with a recruit, explaining to him how best to arrange a tableau of dead bodies for maximum aesthetic effect. It's chilling and hilarious-it reminds me slightly of the terrific Colombian mockumentary "The Vampires of Poverty.""
A theme-park narrative follows two caveman actors, one obsessively maintaining authenticity while resenting a colleague who breaks character and the visitors who fail to appreciate the craft. Corporate overlords invisibly control details like whether a goat appears, and the lead prefers fretting over a missing goat to confronting life beyond the simulation. A collection of Iraq stories pairs bleak subjects—death, war, betrayal—with dark comedic detachment, including a bureaucratic assassin arranging corpses for aesthetic effect. Another tale evokes Waiting for Godot as two men in a lawless mansion treat a rabbit as a pet that lays an egg, blending surrealism with anxiety about an uncertain future.
#performance-and-authenticity #simulation-and-corporate-control #war-and-gallows-humor #surrealism-and-uncertainty
Read at The New Yorker
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