Of Cattle and Men, by Ana Paula Maia

Day after day in rural Brazil, Edgar Wilson swings a mallet, stunning cows for the slaughter. It's the proverbial dirty job that someone has to do. But though he's used to the constant proximity of death, something darker still may be lurking, and Maia, through poetic prose that makes a telling contrast with her subject, powerfully explores our relationship with animals and meat consumption--and the toll these take on the human psyche.