Juan Saer: The One Before

My most profound thanks to all the people who have supported this translation along the way: To Michelle Clayton, who first introduced me to this strange and wonderful book. To Anne Jump, Johanna McKeon, and David Rieff at the Susan Sontag Foundation for seeing the potential in it. Most especially, to Michael Henry Heim, for inspiring me to follow this path. You are deeply missed.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to the family and friends who have supported me through various drafts of this translation. I especially thank my twin sister Sonja Sharp, the Cat to my Pigeon; my dear friend Rebecca Lippman, who has indulged me in so many literary arguments; and my husband Hayden Kantor, my most careful and constant reader.

Juan José Saer was the leading Argentinian writer of the post-Borges generation. The author of numerous novels and short-story collections (including Scars and La Grande ), Saer was awarded Spain’s prestigious Nadal Prize in 1987 for The Event .

Roanne L. Kantor is a doctoral student in Comparative Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Her translation of The One Before won the 2009 Susan Sontag Prize for Translation. Her translations from Spanish have appeared in Little Star magazine, Two Lines , and Palabras Errantes: Latin American Literature in Translation .