{"product_id":"city-of-rats-9780811238373","title":"City of Rats","description":"\u003cp\u003eLife isn't easy for a Parisian rat. But Gouri is getting by: with his best friend Rakä, he's got a small business selling worms to pigeons, a cozy bachelor nest at the local florist, an--as spring blooms in the City of Lights--a budding love interest. But after a double date goes horribly wrong, Gouri and Rakä, along with the royal Rat Court--the princesses Iris and Catarina, and their hilariously unpredictable mother, the Queen of Rats--find themselves adrift on the Seine, accessories after the fact to a double homicide, using their new ally, a small human child, as a life raft. From there, the hijinks metastasize. French police collar the gang along with Mimile, a sadistic murderer who never remembers his crimes. But having escaped lock-up (from the cell they'd been tossed into with their arch-enemies, a snake and a terrier), they pay a visit to the God of Man (a homeless recluse hiding out in the Sainte-Chapelle), but then the giant Rat Devil makes his appearance, full of fiery flatulence and threatening cataclysm...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in a series of letters purportedly written in rat language and posted from Gouri to his former master, \u003cem\u003eCity of Rats\u003c\/em\u003e is the second novel by French-Argentine exile, novelist, cartoonist, playwright, actor, and queer provocateur Copi to be translated into English and perhaps his most madcap work, an X-rated fable where his high-velocity prose smashes through societal taboos--moral, sexual, or otherwise--like a bullet train hitting a glass house. Whimsical, smutty, and surprisingly profound, \u003cem\u003eCity of Rats\u003c\/em\u003e will leave no reader unscathed, and every reader awestruck.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Copi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/31\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811238373\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/19\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCopi:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Born in Buenos Aires in 1939, Raúl Damonte Botana derived his sobriquet Copi from a nickname his grandmother gave him, \"copito de nieve,\" or \"little snowflake.\" At six, he went into exile with his family in Uruguay and eventually settled in Paris, where he was a cartoonist, performer, playwright, and novelist until his death from an AIDS-related illness in 1987.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchluter, Kit:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eKit Schluter\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of \u003cem\u003eCartoons\u003c\/em\u003e (City Lights, 2024) and has recently translated books from the French and Spanish by Copi, bruno darío, Rafael Bernal, Mario Levrero, Marcel Schwob, Olivia Tapiero, and Enrique Vila-Matas. He lives in Mexico City.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAira, César:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eCésar Aira\u003c\/strong\u003e was born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina in 1949, and has lived in Buenos Aires since 1967. He won the 2021 Formentor Prize and was shortlisted for the 2015 Booker International Prize. \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Copi \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47809037926557,"sku":"9780811238373","price":31.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_86800784-86ca-4939-9228-11643aeadcac.jpg?v=1775555779","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/city-of-rats-9780811238373","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}