Los mares del Sur (The Southern Seas) by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán – A Review
Los mares del Sur (The Southern Seas) Manuel Vázquez Montalbán Planeta, 1979, 220 pg Los mares del Sur is the fourth of Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Pepe Carvalho detective novels. 1979 Planeta Prize...
View ArticleAmsterdam Stories by Nescio – A Review
Amsterdam Stories Nescio Damion Searls, trans New York Review of Books, 161 pg. The Dutch author Nescio wrote little over his 79 years, publishing what amounts to a small collection of short stories...
View ArticleHappy Stories About Well-Adjusted People by Joe Ollmann – A Review
Happy Stories About Well-Adjusted People Joe Ollmann Conundrum Press, 2014, 242 pg Joe Ollmann’s graphic novel, Happy Stories About Well-Adjusted People, is really a collection of short stories in the...
View ArticleLa muerte juega a los dados (Death Played with Dice) by Clara Obligado – A...
La muerte juega a los dados (Death Played with Dice) Clara Obligado Páginas de Espuma 2015, 228 pg Clara Obligado’s La muerte juega a los dados is a loosely interconnected collection of stories that...
View ArticleA List of Spanish Short Story Writers
A few months ago the Spanish writer Sergi Bellver sent me article that had a great list of living short story writers. I’m now getting around to posting it. Many of them I’m familiar with, but there...
View ArticleIn The Sounds and Seas by Marnie Galloway – A Review
In The Sounds and Seas Marnie Galloway One Peace Books, 2016 Marnie Galloway’s In The Sounds and Seas is a beautifully drawn and imaginative wordless fable. The art of the wordless book is the purest...
View ArticleSiete casas vacías (Seven Empty Houses) by Samanta Schweblin – A Review
Siete casas vacías (Seven Empty Houses) Samanta Schweblin Páginas de Espuma, 2016, pg 123 Anyone who has read this blog will know that I admire Samanta Schweblin’s work. While little has come out in...
View ArticleSpanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists – A Review
Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists Santiago Garcia, ed Fantagraphics Books, 2016, pg 283 There was a moment when I first began to read Spanish Fever I thought I had made a mistake:...
View ArticleEntre malvados (Between the Wicked) by Miguel Ángel Muñoz – a Review
Entre malvados (Between the Wicked) Miguel Ángel Muñoz Páginas de Espuma, 2016, pg 146 Entre malvados is the Spanish author Miguel Ángel Muñoz’s third collection of short stories, and represents a...
View ArticleWar, So Much War By Merce Rodoreda – A Review
War, So Much War Merce Rodoreda Open Letter, 2015, pg 185 Merce Rodoreda’s late works are magical miniatures of madness, destruction, and authoritarianism. Much like a Death in Spring, War, So Much War...
View ArticleSouthern Cross by Laurence Hyde – A Review
Southern Cross Laurence Hyde Drawn & Quarterly, 2007, pg 255 Original Publish Date Ward Richie Press, 1951 Laurence Hyde’s Southern Cross is a wordless novel made from wood cuts. Much as Lynd Ward,...
View ArticleThe Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton – A Review
The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton Library of America At the heart of it, Wharton’s novels are about freedom. It isn’t an existential freedom, it’s a practical one, one that assumes money and love...
View ArticleThe Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh – A Review
The Sorrow of War Bao Ninh trans. Phan Thanh Hao Riverhead Books, 1993, pg 233 If you are coming to Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War after seeing his interviews in Ken Burn’s The Vietnam War, as I did, you...
View ArticleDistancia de rescate (Fever Dream) by Samanta Schweblin – A Review
Distancia de rescate (Fever Dream) Samanta Schweblin Literatura Random House, 2014, pg 124 I’m not sure what I think of Distancia de rescate. My uncertainty is not a backhanded way of saying the book...
View ArticleThe Abominable Mr Seabrook by Joe Ollmann – A Review
The Abominable Mr Seabrook Joe Ollmann Drawn & Quarterly, 2017, pg 296 Passion projects don’t always succeed. They can bog down in details that are only interesting to the idiosyncrasies of the...
View ArticleVelocidad de los jardines (The Speed of Gardens) by Eloy Tizón – A Review
Velocidad de los jardines (The Speed of Gardens) Eloy Tizón Páginas de Espuma 2017 (1992), pg 146 Velocidad de los jardines, published in 1992, is considered one of the key collections from the...
View ArticleThe Arab of the Future by Raid Sattouf – A Reivew
The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 Raid Sattouf Sam Taylor, trans Metropolitan Books 2015, 153 pg. Raid Sattouf’s spent the years between 1978 and 1984 living primary in...
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 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 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....
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