Book Splurge: Short Stories by Mexican Women
Passed through Barcelona recently and took some time to get a little reading material, two from one of my favorite small presses, Paginas de Espuma. Both classics and new writers. Al final del miedo –...
View ArticleCapital de la gloria (Glorious Capital) by Juan Eduardo Zúñiga – A Review
Capital de la gloriaJuan Eduardo Zúñiga Capital de la gloria is the final installment in Juan Eduardo Zúñiga’s Madrid trilogy, a work that explores the Spanish Civil War in rich and darkly elegiac...
View ArticleLa memoria donde ardía (Where Memory Burns) by Socorro Venegas – A Reivew
La memoria donde ardía(Where Memory Burns)Socorro VenegasPáginas de Espuma, 2019 The Mexican author Socorro Venegas’ fine collection explores the transition to motherhood, the early stages of pregnancy...
View ArticleFracture by Andrés Neuman – A Review
FractureAndrés NeumanNick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia, transFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020 Andrés Neuman is many writers; novelist, poet, short story author, and through the range of his diverse works...
View ArticleGarden by the Sea by Merce Rodereda – A Review
Garden by the SeaMercé RodoredaMaruxa Relanño and Martha Tennent, transOpen Letter, 2020 Mercé Rodoreda’s work is marked by a concise style infused with a deep attachment to the natural world, one that...
View ArticleDamned Souls by Dimiter Dimov – Love, War and the Plague
Damned SoulsDimiter DimovSofia Press It is one of those fascinating experiences of reading that let one enter into old political arguments, wander through them as if in an attic, and find among the...
View ArticleLa guerra (The War) by Ana María Shua – a Review
La guerra (The War)Ana Mariá ShuaPáginas de Espuma, 2019, 164 pg If the short story, in relation to the novel, is an underappreciated form, then flash fiction, or it’s better sounding name in Spanish,...
View ArticleLa tierra será un paraíso (The Earth Will Be a Paradise) by Juan Eduardo...
La tierra será un paraíso (The Earth Will Be a Paradise)Juan Eduardo ZúñigaFrom La trilogía de la Guerra CivilCatedra 1989/2007 La tierra será un paraíso (The Earth Will Be a Paradise) is the second...
View ArticleDoña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós – A Review
For a country whose most famous literary work is a novel, Doña Perfecta has the appearance of an early novel, a novel whose shifts in style and the occasional lacuna in the plot, suggest a nascent...
View ArticleThrough the Wheat by Thomas Boyd – A Review
Through the Wheat Thomas Boyd Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927 Thomas Boyd’s 1923 WWI novel is relatively forgotten work in the literature of the war. Although, F. Scott Fitzgerald called it a work of art...
View ArticleWinesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson Library of America Sherwood Anderson’s interrelated collection of short stories is a masterpiece of the form. As good as other works such as The Triumph of the Egg are...
View ArticleA Woman of the Pharisees by François Mauriac – A Review
Somewhere halfway through the François Mauriac’s 1941 novel, A Woman of the Pharisees, the narrator sides with his stepmother, Bridget. It is a small thing, but it is clear this is no social novel. It...
View ArticleUna novela criminal (A Criminal Novel) by Jorge Volpi – A Review
Una novela criminal (A Criminal Novel)Jorge Volpi Alfagura, 2018 493 pg Jorge Volpi’s Una novela criminal is a novela sin fiction, that is a novel without fiction, a book that tries to examine the...
View ArticleFavorite Reads of 2018
Here are my favorite reads for 2018. They are not ordered in any way. I didn’t review all of them, but the ones I did are linked. There are some real standout works there. I wish the Zúñiga and Tizón...
View ArticlePelea de gallos (Cockfight) by María Fernanda Ampuero – A Review
Pelea de gallos (Cock Fight) María Fernanda AmpueroPáginas de espuma, 2018, 114 pg A pelea de gallos is a cockfight, the bloody and senseless fight between two roosters all for the enjoyment of rabid...
View ArticleLargo noviembre de Madrid (Madrid’s Long November) by Juan Eduardo Zúñiga – A...
Largo noviembre de Madrid (Madrid’s Long November) From La trilogía de la Guerra Civil Juan Eduardo Zúñiga Catedra 1980/2007 Juan Eduardo Zúñiga’s Largo noviembre de Madrid is, simple said, a...
View ArticleCinco horas con Mario (Five Hours with Mario) by Miguel Delibes – A Review
Cinco horas con Mario (Five Hours with Mario) Miguel Delibes Note: this book was translated into English sometime in the 80’s, but I can’t speak to its availability. Miguel Delibes was one of Spain’s...
View ArticleLa vuelta al día (Around the Day) by Hipólito G. Navarro – A Review
La vuelta al día (Around the Day) Hipólito G. Navarro Páginas de Espuma, 2016, pg. 251 La vuelta al día (Around the Day) is Hipólito G. Navarro’s 2016 return to print after a long, eleven year absence....
View ArticleThe Taker and Other Stories by Rubem Fonseca – A Review
The Taker and Other Stories Rubem Fonseca Clifford E. Landers, trans Open Letter Books, 2008,166 pg This is a post in honor of Spanish and Portuguese lit month from Richard and Stu. It took me ten...
View ArticleThe Seawall by Marguerite Duras – A Review
The Seawall Marguerite Duras Herma Briffault, trans Perennial Library 1986, pg 288 Duras’ The Seawall is one of her earlier works about Vietnam. Published in 1950, as the French empire was about to...
View Article