A review by corvidquest
Bacacay by Bill Johnston, Witold Gombrowicz

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

3.75

Oh, I would have accepted the leprosy alone; but not leprosy and eroticism together, oh no, for the love of God, erotic leprosy?

The strongest stories here – "Lawyer Kraykowski's Dancer", "A Premeditated Crime", "Virginity", "Adventures", "The Events on the Banbury", and "The Banquet" – are first rate works of genius. At his best, Gombrowicz's hilarious surrealism highlights how supposedly superior European values are arbitrary and narcissistic. Something comes along that knocks these values off-kilter, and the story proceeds via an impeccable internal logic that renders the absurdity compelling and delightful. In the weaker stories, it sometimes feels there is nothing but absurdity, and the work feels unmoored. The successful stories make the overall collection worthwhile.