A Thousand Forests in One Acorn: An Anthology of Spanish-Language Fiction

by Valerie Miles

Overview

A Thousand Forests in One Acorn: An Anthology of Spanish-Language Fiction brings together twenty-eight of the most important Spanish-language writers of the twentieth century—several of which will be familiar to English-language readers, like Carlos Fuentes, Javier Marías, and Mario Vargas Llosa, and many who will be new revelations, such as Aurora Venturini, Sergio Pitol, and Elvio Gandolfo—and provides them with a chance to discuss their careers and explain the aesthetic influences behind the pieces they chose to include in this volume. Unlike other anthologies, the stories and excerpts collected here were selected by the authors themselves and represent the "high point" of their writing career.

Valerie Miles—translator, editor, and co-founder of Granta en español—not only curated perhaps the greatest cross-section of contemporary Spanish-language literature to be anthologized, but also brings to this collection original interviews with every author, along with biographic prefaces before each, in order to best introduce the reader to the author's entire oeuvre and his or her literary impact.

Breathtaking in scope and historical detail, this anthology will no doubt become a fixture in personal literary collections, as well as a go-to resource for classrooms and libraries alike.

Valerie Miles is a publisher, writer, translator, and the co-founder of Granta en español. She is also the co-director of The New York Review of Books in its Spanish translation and, in 2013, was voted one of the "Most Influential Professionals in Publishing" by the Buenos Aires Book Fair.

Contributors:

Rafael Chirbes
Edgardo Cozarinsky
Jose de la Colina
Cristina Fernandez Cubas
Alfredo Bryce Echenique
Jorge Edwards
Abilio Estevez
Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio
Carlos Fuentes
Elvio Gandolfo
Juan Goytisolo
Javier Marias
Juan Marse
Ana Maria Matute
Eduardo Mendoza
Jose Maria Merino
Antonio Munoz Molina
Horacio Castellanos Moya
Ricardo Piglia
Ramiro Pinilla
Sergio Pitol
Evelio Rosero
Alberto Ruy Sanchez
Esther Tusquets
Hebe Uhart
Mario Vargas Llosa
Aurora Venturini
Enrique Vila-Matas

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934824917
Publisher:	Open Letter
Publication date:	09/02/2014
Pages:	717
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Valerie Miles is a publisher, writer, translator, and the co-founder of Granta en español. She is also the co-director of The New York Review of Books in its Spanish translation and, in 2013, was voted one of the "Most Influential Professionals in Publishing" by the Buenos Aires Book Fair.

Contributors:

Rafael Chirbes
Edgardo Cozarinsky
Jose de la Colina
Cristina Fernandez Cubas
Alfredo Bryce Echenique
Jorge Edwards
Abilio Estevez
Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio
Carlos Fuentes
Elvio Gandolfo
Juan Goytisolo
Javier Marias
Juan Marse
Ana Maria Matute
Eduardo Mendoza
Jose Maria Merino
Antonio Munoz Molina
Horacio Castellanos Moya
Ricardo Piglia
Ramiro Pinilla
Sergio Pitol
Evelio Rosero
Alberto Ruy Sanchez
Esther Tusquets
Hebe Uhart
Mario Vargas Llosa
Aurora Venturini
Enrique Vila-Matas

Table of Contents

A Thousand Forests in One Acorn: An Anthology of Spanish Language Fiction

Edited by Valerie Miles



INDEX

PROLOGUE

AURORA VENTURINI (Argentina, 1922)
From The Cousins

RAMIRO PINILLA (Spain, 1923)
From The Blind Ants

ANA MARÍA MATUTE (Spain, 1926)
From The Forgotten Kin Gudú

RAFAEL SÁNCHEZ FERLOSIO (Spain, 1927)
From The Testimony of Yarfoz

CARLOS FUENTES (Mexico, 1928)
From Terra Nostra

JORGE EDWARDS (Chile, 1931)
The Order of the Families
From The Death of Montaigne
From Persona Non Grata

JUAN GOYTISOLO (Spain, 1931)
From The Blind Rider

JUAN MARSÉ (Spain, 1933)
From Last Evenings with Teresa

SERGIO PITOL (Mexico, 1933)
By Night in Bukhara

JOSÉ DE LA COLINA (Spain, 1934)
The Final Music of the Titanic

ESTHER TUSQUETS (Barcelona, 1936)
Summer Orchestra

HEBE UHART (Argentina, 1936)
From Moving
Him
Training the Ivy

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA (Peru, 1936)
From The Way to Paradise
From The Feast of the Goat

ALFREDO BRYCE ECHENIQUE (Peru, 1939)
From A World for Julius
Apples

EDGARDO COZARINSKY (Argentina, 1939)
From Far from Somewhere

JOSÉ MARÍA MERINO (Spain, 1941)
From The Dark Shore
Fly
The Toaster
The Coffee Cup
The House with Two Doors

RICARDO PIGLIA (Argentina, 1941)
From The Absent City

EDUARDO MENDOZA (Spain, 1943)
From The Truth About the Savolta Case

CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ CUBAS (Spain, 1945)
The Journey
From The Year of Grace
Angle of Honor

ELVIO GANDOLFO (Argentina, 1947)
The Moment of Impact

ENRIQUE VILA-MATAS (Spain, 1948)
From Because She Didn’t Ask

RAFAEL CHIRBES (Spain, 1949)
From Crematorium

ALBERTO RUY SÁNCHEZ (Mexico, 1951)
From Mogador: The Names of the Air

JAVIER MARÍAS (Spain, 1951)
From The Man of Feeling
When I was Mortal
From Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me
From Dark Back of Time

ABILIO ESTÉVEZ (Cuba, 1954)
From The Sleeping Mariner

ANTONIO MUÑOZ MOLINA (Spain, 1956)
From The Polish Horseman
From Sepharad

HORACIO CASTELLANS MOYA (El Salvador, 1957)
From Senselessness

EVELIO ROSERO (Colombia, 1958)
Lucia or: The Pigeons

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/25/2014
Miles compiles an impressive anthology of Spanish-language authors' self-submissions. The result, titled after an Emerson quote, is less of a definitive canon than an attempt to "root out the acorn, the driving obsession of a writer." Nevertheless, the 28 participating fiction writers represent some of the best of their respective literatures: including Carlos Fuentes (Mexican), Aurora Venturini (Argentinian), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peruvian), and Ramiro Pinilla (Spanish), among many others. Each section consists of a short biography (conveniently marked off by inked page edges), an interview, a selection of the author's choosing, and finally a bibliography of works and awards. Almost all of the selections are literary works of rare, remarkable quality, but the real pleasure is reading them in the context of the interviews. Here, authors explain their submission choice (Alberto Ruy Sánchez calls it "the pain of choosing"); they recount influences (Faulkner makes frequent appearances, as do family members—says Fuentes, "rite for your grandmothers wherever they are"); and they discuss everything from writing techniques to fiction's "obligation" to politics. Ordered chronologically by authors' dates of birth, the collection begins with the rich works of the most mature authors, and ends slightly less impressively with younger authors who, though worthwhile, may have yet to write their best pages. With its myriad themes, including class conflict (Esther Tusquets), disillusionment with utopian ideals (Juan Marsé), and instability of identity (Antonio Muñoz Molina), the collection amply rewards both the casual reader and the scholar seeking insight into authors' thought processes. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Four years in the making, Valerie Miles, co-founder of Granta, curates an impressive twenty-eight author strong anthology of Spanish Language fiction featuring pieces from literary heavyweights like Javier Marias, Antonio Munoz Molina, Enrique Vila-Matas, and Mario Vargas Llosa alongside some lesser known (but equally as important) names. . . . Beautifully packaged and well laid out, this collection is a definite must-have for lovers of contemporary Spanish language fiction."—Typographical Era

"That the Spanish language gave voice to the likes of Cervantes, Borges, García Márquez, and so many other greats of literary fiction is a fact not unlike poetry's affinity for Russian. Lingua España is to daring tales of adventure and magical realism what sex is to erotica. This outrageously valuable project asked twenty-eight Spanish-language heavyweights of the last half of the twentieth century to choose a favorite piece of their own work, accompanied by some personal words of commentary and reflection."—Valerie Miles, Foreward Reviews

". . . [T]his was a fascinating overview of contemporary Spanish language fiction and a good introduction to many new authors. There is something here for readers of almost every literary taste . . ."—The Mantle

From the Publisher