A straightforward, Orwellian tale of brutality, government control, and deteriorating societal values, “Tender is the Flesh” sets up a thought-provoking, horrific, and skin crawling premise of the idea of humans being slaughtered for meat. Originally written in Spanish by Agustina Bazterrica and translated into English by Sarah Moses, “Tender is the Flesh” takes place in a society where a virus has contaminated animal meat, leading to the legalization (and promotion) of cannibalism — though in this world, ugly words like “cannibalism” are replace with softer euphemisms in true dystopian fashion. Humans raised for slaughter are called “heads” and human meat is merely “special meat.” The idea that people would turn to cannibalism rather than vegetarianism is one that isn't too distant from our modern reality.

Critiquing government control and industrialized farming, the novel follows a produce plant manager struggling with the loss of his son and his own place in this deteriorating world. The straightforward, simple sentence structures convey the sanitized, emotionless way that things are treated in this world. Notions about the conspiracy of international governments and corrupt media being in charge of the virus in order to reduce overpopulation and crime are mentioned in passing. What’s truly haunting about the story is its complete hopelessness — every character has given in. Practically every character the protagonist meets — including ordinary civilians uninvolved in the meat industry — have given into violence or discrimination. (For instance, one particular scene involving puppies at a zoo is truly heart wrenching). In its final pages, the book truly demonstrates the full extent of this deterioration of morality. What “Tender is the Flesh” succeeds in is its exploration of disturbing concepts through an unreliable narrator as he navigates the dehumanization of society.