Distant Star6 reviews Roberto Bolano New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004 Excellent novel and translation + Viva Bolano! + The Poetry of Fascism + Poignant, poetic, unanswerable             Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter: A Novel29 reviews Mario Vargas Llosa Penguin (Non-Classics), 1995 One very funny book! + loved it. + Surreal, self-referential + aUNT jULIA AND THE sCRIPTWRITER + A story about storytelling             The Lost Steps15 reviews Alejo Carpentier University of Minnesota Press, 2001 One of the most memorable novels I've ever read + Pretentious? Moi? + Latin American Classic I've read thousands of novels that I cannot remember clearly, and this is one that has stayed with me for more than 20 years. I have thought of it repeatedly the last few months while walking in the woods and observing how the trails change with the seasons (a crucial part of the plot) and ...             Pedro Paramo56 reviews Juan Rulfo Grove Press, 1994 Rulfo's Pedro Paramo + 5 for the story in the original, 3 for translating it + Confusing, yet one have to appreciate its narrative style In this 1955 Mexican novella, a young man, Juan Preciado, promises his dying mother that he will find his father, the Pedro Páramo of the title, and claim his birthright. Juan has no independent memories of his father. His mother fled her abusive and loveless marriage shortly after Juan's birth and ...             Blow-Up: And Other Stories17 reviews Julio Cortazar Pantheon, 1985 A marvelous collection of short stories -- but what makes them so is not easy to explain + Literature at the Planck Scale + An early version of La Maga + A fantastic intro to Cortazar             The President11 reviews Miguel Angel Asturias Waveland Press, 1997 No joke. + great book! best read in Spanish if you have the oportunity + El Presidente Enormously important book which rightly got the Nobel Prize for Literature. It could also have gotten it for human rights. Sadly meaningful in 2005 also. I don't understand, however, why people keep using "magic realism" or "surrealism" to describe it. Fantasy? No.             The Death of Artemio Cruz: A Novel15 reviews Carlos Fuentes Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991 Make it Work for You + Brilliant, innovative and powerful narrative + The out-of-print version is BETTER + The Death of Artemio Cruz             Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon24 reviews Jorge Amado Vintage, 2006 Another masterpiece by the late Jorge Amado!!! + UNFORGETABLE ROMANCE. BRAZIALIAN CLASSIC + Great Book For First Time Amado Reader + I loved this book! + Great Book             Tres Tristes Tigres3 reviews Guillermo Cabrera Infante, G. Cabrera Infante Editorial Seix Barral, 2005 Monumental tongue and mind-twister + Del gozo de escribir al gozo de leer. + ella cantaba boleros "Tres tristes tigres," a Spanish tongue-twister, is the title of Cabrera-Infante's anti-novel, and as this book's title suggests, what lies between the book's covers is nothing short of a never-ending mental-linguistic twister of epic proportions. The book grabs the reader on page one and takes ...             The Dream Antilles6 reviews David Seth Michaels iUniverse, Inc., 2005 Where is desdeDesdemona + A magical journey that will be different each time you read it + The Human History of an Island + Dare to Dream + Island lovers unite             Blow-Up: And Other Stories17 reviews Julio Cortazar Pantheon, 1985 A marvelous collection of short stories -- but what makes them so is not easy to explain + Literature at the Planck Scale + An early version of La Maga + A fantastic intro to Cortazar             The Death of Artemio Cruz: A Novel15 reviews Carlos Fuentes Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991 Make it Work for You + Brilliant, innovative and powerful narrative + The out-of-print version is BETTER + The Death of Artemio Cruz             The President11 reviews Miguel Angel Asturias Waveland Press, 1997 No joke. + great book! best read in Spanish if you have the oportunity + El Presidente Enormously important book which rightly got the Nobel Prize for Literature. It could also have gotten it for human rights. Sadly meaningful in 2005 also. I don't understand, however, why people keep using "magic realism" or "surrealism" to describe it. Fantasy? No.             The Dream Antilles6 reviews David Seth Michaels iUniverse, Inc., 2005 Where is desdeDesdemona + A magical journey that will be different each time you read it + The Human History of an Island + Dare to Dream + Island lovers unite             Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter: A Novel29 reviews Mario Vargas Llosa Penguin (Non-Classics), 1995 One very funny book! + loved it. + Surreal, self-referential + aUNT jULIA AND THE sCRIPTWRITER + A story about storytelling             Pedro Paramo56 reviews Juan Rulfo Grove Press, 1994 Rulfo's Pedro Paramo + 5 for the story in the original, 3 for translating it + Confusing, yet one have to appreciate its narrative style In this 1955 Mexican novella, a young man, Juan Preciado, promises his dying mother that he will find his father, the Pedro Páramo of the title, and claim his birthright. Juan has no independent memories of his father. His mother fled her abusive and loveless marriage shortly after Juan's birth and ...             Tres Tristes Tigres3 reviews Guillermo Cabrera Infante, G. Cabrera Infante Editorial Seix Barral, 2005 Monumental tongue and mind-twister + Del gozo de escribir al gozo de leer. + ella cantaba boleros "Tres tristes tigres," a Spanish tongue-twister, is the title of Cabrera-Infante's anti-novel, and as this book's title suggests, what lies between the book's covers is nothing short of a never-ending mental-linguistic twister of epic proportions. The book grabs the reader on page one and takes ...             Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon24 reviews Jorge Amado Vintage, 2006 Another masterpiece by the late Jorge Amado!!! + UNFORGETABLE ROMANCE. BRAZIALIAN CLASSIC + Great Book For First Time Amado Reader + I loved this book! + Great Book             The Lost Steps15 reviews Alejo Carpentier University of Minnesota Press, 2001 One of the most memorable novels I've ever read + Pretentious? Moi? + Latin American Classic I've read thousands of novels that I cannot remember clearly, and this is one that has stayed with me for more than 20 years. I have thought of it repeatedly the last few months while walking in the woods and observing how the trails change with the seasons (a crucial part of the plot) and ...             Distant Star6 reviews Roberto Bolano New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004 Excellent novel and translation + Viva Bolano! + The Poetry of Fascism + Poignant, poetic, unanswerable