Eduardo Halfon is the author of The Polish Boxer, Monastery, Mourning, Canción, and Tarantula. He is the recipient of the Guatemalan National Prize in Literature, International Latino Book Award, Edward Lewis Wallant Award, and Berman Literature Prize, among many other honors. A citizen of Guatemala and Spain, Halfon was born in Guatemala City, attended school in Florida and North Carolina, and has lived in Nebraska, Spain, Paris, and Berlin.

Praise for Tarantula

Dua Lipa's Service95 "Must-Read Books" selection
Jewish Book Council "Recommended Reading" selection
Observer "Paperback of the Week" selection

"Challenging and provocative." --Damon Galgut, Times Literary Supplement

"A novel that tickles the brain and chills the heart at the same time." --Times

"Audacious. . . . A short, dense puzzle of a book . . . brilliantly translated by Daniel Hahn." --Observer

"An unsettling story, without specific or easy answers. . . . Powerful, well-conceived." --Complete Review

"Resonant. . . . Reflects on the effects of inherited trauma and victimhood. It's a breath of fresh air." --Publishers Weekly

"Powerful. . . . A darkly unsettling but highly readable novel by a leading voice in Latin American fiction." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Halfon attempts to understand why his summer camp morphed into a concentration camp, complete with string quartet. He also probes the integral role that Judaism and his Guatemalan roots play in his writing." --Library Journal (starred review)

"This novel about a violent and traumatic childhood episode is eerily current--the questions it raises about identity, resistance, and history are both deeply personal and universal." --Mariana Enríquez, author of Our Share of Night and Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave

"An extraordinary book. What begins as a shocking story reveals itself as a sidelong, mysterious meditation on trauma, vengeance, and the terrible capacity of the past to shape the present." --Olivia Laing, author of Crudo and The Silver Book

"Chilling. A story set in the Guatemalan jungle that resonates in Gaza, in Donbas, anywhere victims end up resembling their own executioners." --Santiago Roncagliolo, author of Red April

More Praise for Eduardo Halfon

"One of the most talented and exciting writers of our time." --Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa

"Halfon is a brilliant storyteller." --Daniel Alarcón

"Halfon's prose is as delicate, precise, and ineffable as precocious art, a lighthouse that illuminates everything." --Francisco Goldman

"It is not often that one encounters such a mix of personal engagement and literary passion, or pain and tenderness." --Andrés Neuman

"Elegant." --Marie Claire

"Engrossing." --NBC Latino

"Fantastic." --NPR Alt.Latino

"Revelatory." --New York Times Book Review

"Deeply accessible, deeply moving." --Los Angeles Times

"Offer[s] surprise and revelation at every turn." --Reader's Digest

"One senses Kafka's ghost, along with Bolaño's, lingering in the shadows. . . . [Halfon's] books, which take on such dark subjects, are so enjoyable to read." --New York Review of Books

Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press

Pub date: 2026-05-19

Length: 192 pages