Tuesday, March 27, 2012

McFuguet

 

 
Unlike many Latin American authors, Alberto Fuguet’s relationship to the United States is not particularly traumatic. The author’s literary material is mined from the middle and upper classes who move easily about the country and – even more notable – through its culture, be it high or purportedly low. Fuguet’s creatures are poor little rich kids and not poor little immigrants.
 
But let’s be clear: the problems are not trivial just because they belong to the comfortable classes. In the end, as they say, los ricos also cry. That might be where the unsuspecting reader falls into a trap as Fuguet proves his narrative power in these tragi-comic stories. Here’s another difference between this Chilean author and others who have taken on the American dream; he never forces a pseudo-sociological or anthropological analysis. Fuguet’s characters find themselves in banal details like a random photo found in an airline magazine or an old man who tries to eat cereal at a Denny’s.

The design of Shorts: Stories deserves mention. The photos and drawings included here make the book an object as beautiful as it is delicate.
 
 
                                                                        Vera


 
Review Shorts: Stories (Cortos), Alberto Fuguet (Meansheets)