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Bad Behavior

January 2017

january-2017-bad-behavior-ivan-navarro-conduit-1
Image: Ivan Navarro, Conduit #1, 2015, neon, steel, mirror, one-way mirror, and electric energy, 36 1/4 x 36 inches. Edition of 3 (from an edition of 3 + 1AP). Courtesy of Ivan Navarro and Paul Kasmin Gallery.

Image: Ivan Navarro, Conduit #1, 2015, neon, steel, mirror, one-way mirror, and electric energy, 36 1/4 x 36 inches. Edition of 3 (from an edition of 3 + 1AP). Courtesy of Ivan Navarro and Paul Kasmin Gallery.


As the new year arrives with its resolutions and pledges of virtue, we’re taking one last look at bad behavior. Characters abuse power and substances, dodge laws and bend the rules, and otherwise indulge their baser instincts in this survey of crimes and misdemeanors around the world. Andrei Krasniashikh’s sodden soccer fan really doesn’t know the score. Amy Yamada’s manipulative teen signs up for a risky after-school activity. Hanna Krall exposes a con woman’s ultimate scam, and Jean-Marie Blas de Robles observes the worst kind of industrial espionage. Felipe Franco Munhoz pins the blame on Faulkner; Alejandro Saravia’s immigrant deals his own death; and Guiseppe Berto challenges the gospel truth. We hope these displays of poor form get your year off to a good start.

People Behaving Badly
By Susan Harris
Many greet the clean slate of a new year by pledging to chalk up only virtue and moderation.
I Don’t Want Much, But I Must Have It All
By Hanna Krall
Once people hear “religious husband,” they lend two thousand on the spot.
Translated from Polish by Ela Bittencourt
Haunted Swing
By Andrei Krasniashikh
Above all else I appreciate skill and showmanship . . .
Translated from Russian by Tanya Paperny
MultimediaMultilingual
Plamondon Metro
By Alejandro Saravia
drawn by the myth of the streets of gold / Santiago Nasar arrives on rue Barclay and becomes a pusher
Translated from Spanish by María José Giménez
Multilingual
Moonshine
By Felipe Franco Munhoz
It wasn’t our fault . . . it was mostly the fault of William Faulkner.
Translated from Portuguese by Eric M. B. Becker
Breathtaking View
By Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès
A proponent of “lean management,” Wang-li Wong works to streamline activity within his company.
Translated from French by Hannah Chute
The Betrayal
By Giuseppe Berto
So You said to me, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
Translated from Italian by Gregory Conti
Magnet
By Amy Yamada
It didn’t take much time before word spread that I was Yamamoto’s favorite.
Translated from Japanese by Yuri Komuro