Shelf Unbound October/November 2017 by Shelf Media Group

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

READ GLOBAL: BOOKS IN TRANSLATION

SEPTEMBER 2010

what to read next in independent publishing

Who is Titus? A chicken farmer at 12 years of age, US Army Paratrooper in Japan at 17, All-Scholastic Football player, Football Coach, Biology Teacher, Professional Photographer, Bank Incorporator, Presidential Confidant, Chiropractor and a critic’s quote,

“TITUS OUT GUMPS FORREST!!” The story of a young mill town sports hero. Grit, focus and an ability to weave through all obstacles dominated his life game on the field .......... and off !!!!! Ensuing years finds the sports hero hanging up the cleats and one day dining with a US president and going on to professional brilliance and international acclaim. Never far from hometown yet lightyears from his humble beginnings. This engaging tale will inspire others in pursuit of their own distant personal goal posts!!!! Available at

Titus & Senator Marco Rubio, exchanging books, two great examples of the “American Dream”

staff

Margaret Brown fo u n d e r a n d p u b l i sh e r Anna Nair edito r i n ch i e f Christina Davidson c re a t i ve d i re c tor Ben Minton circ u l a t i on ma n a g e r Patricia McClain c o py e d i to r Marc Schuster c o n t r i b u t i n g e d i tor Barbara Pflaumer so c i a l me d i a d i re c tor

what to read next

113

last words

On the cover: From Split Seconds Havana by Abe Kogan

SPLIT SECONDS

HAVANA BY ABE KOGAN

A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE EVERDAY LIFE IN HAVANA, CUBA. These captured shots within Split Seconds Havana occur smack in the midst of the pre-normalization of Cuban/US relations followed by the signing of the accord between the 2 nations, President Obama’s visit, and Fidel Castro’s death. This collection of black and white photos situates Havana inside of the dying embers of its 57 year relationship with orthodox communism. But now with its feet firmly planted in the pre-post Castro dance of modernity and change, bets are on that Havana is set to change and in a big way. The author is not sure how much change is in the cards. Nor how quickly it will manifest. Havana will reinvent itself regardless of change, rates of change, confluences or conflicts of influences he says. The shots presented here cut through the politics and the gossip of endless predictions spun by the international and local rumor mills. They portray a timeless face of Havana. A captivating and repeating humanity. “Generational Generalities” as he likes to say. Devoid of its powerful tropical flavors via his cancelation of color, landscapes and seascapes, Havana is stripped bare and reveals its inner city urban pulse. The metronome of its Habaneros.

Introducing a present-day La Bohème—a must-read novel for all opera lovers.

by Yorker Keith The Other La Bohème is literary fiction that depicts a group of four opera singers, named the Dolci Quattro, who are to perform the nearlyforgotten opera La Bohème by Leoncavallo, also known as “the other La Bohème.” Set in the rich artistic backdrop of New York City, the Dolci Quattro’s lives and loves go through ups and downs in joy and despair, while they give one another much-needed moral support. As the opening night nears, the Dolci Quattro make their utmost efforts to perfect their singing for the opera that will determine their future.

The

Series

ROMANCE IN A FASCINATING SETTING

Book 1 OPAL RIDGE “A modern romance with shades of Pride and Prejudice set in the Australian outback.” —Jill Allen Forword Clarion Review

Book 2 THE GOVERNESS “I don’t often review books, because I am not a writer. This story deserves someone to say some thing good about it though. I really loved reading the whole book.” —Kindle customer

WWW.VICTORIACAPPER.COM

Book 3 COURTING TROUBLE

Coming Soon!

This book is about Tony, the most dashing, colourful, exciting of the three friends.

Look out for it!

“Highly recommended! … rises to soaring heights of insight, discernment and prose … This is an excellent, life-changing book for anyone seeking the true essence of great leadership.”

Columbia Review

www.gauravbhalla.com

www.soulfulleadership.world

“The book seeks to help transition leaders of all stripes into more thoughtful, humble, and inspired people. ... Awakening a Leader’s Soul resonates so strongly because the world needs more leaders like those the book seeks to create.”

Foreword Reviews

“Forward-thinking organizations will find these concepts to be timely and useful. An inspirational perspective on an unusual leadership style.”

Kirkus Review

Awakening A Leader’s Soul: Learnings Through Immortal Poems

is about “Soulful Leadership,” a new human-centric leadership narrative that reimagines the purpose of leadership and values the fullness of leaders’ humanity more than the brilliance of their executive minds. Effective solutions to the challenges posed by today’s complex and uncertain world are more a function of who leaders are, what they stand for, and what they are willing to fight for, not the extent of their knowledge. The book takes current and future leaders on a transformative journey of reflection and selfawareness, so they can reconnect with themselves and the worlds in which they live through the timeless wisdom of immortal poems. And yet the world is different from what it seems to be And we are other than how we see ourselves in our ravings. —Czeslaw Milosz, “Ars Poetica” After seeing and hearing themselves in new and different ways, readers can start their own “Soulful Leadership” journeys, using the power and privilege of their leadership positions to make the world a better place.

“The Curse and the Cup combines supernatural elements, true historical facts, racial tensions and the charms (pun intended) of a folktale. It takes the reader on a truly mesmerizing journey.”

Columbia Review

“Incorporating facts, stats, and wellknown athletes along with local lore and fictive legend, The Curse and the Cup offers a unique and inventive explanation for the decades-long losing streak that shadows the Proteas, South Africa’s national cricket team.”

Foreword Reviews

The Curse and the Cup is a harrowing story of unpaid karmic debt, of the dark, unvanquished consequences of apartheid that continue to exact revenge and cripple dreams till today. On an ill-fated day in 1991, Vuyisa Lingani and his son Manga, legendary left-arm spinners who couldn’t play international cricket for South Africa because they were black, die within hours of each other in a bizarre tragedy. Vuyisa’s wife, Mama Nonkosi, blames the white cricket establishment and places a curse on the South African cricket team to avenge their deaths. The curse has successfully prevented the Proteas from winning a single World Cup championship since. But Mama Nonkosi is dying, and the curse needs a new caretaker. She turns to her grandson, Themba, the sole-surviving Lingani male, and heir to the left-arm spin dynasty. Will Themba honor her request and support the family’s tradition of hate and revenge, or will he pursue his own destiny and choose forgiveness? Will South Africa win the ICC World Cup, or will the curse continue its unbroken victorious run?

In a small sleepy town in North Carolina, thirteen year old Jake Winston discovered he carries a unique genetic trait; one that a covert government agency will stop at nothing to obtain. After the tragic death of his father, a local firefighting hero, Jake’s absent grandfather returns and sends the boy off on a journey into the gated forest at the edge of town, bringing him face-to-face with a family of dragons thought long extinct. Determined to grasp the power of the blood flowing through Jake’s veins, an agent from the secret ONX facility begins killing every dragon in his path. This forces Jake in the middle of a battle between the government and the dragons of Asheville, where the true potential of his power is revealed.

“Wonderfully descriptive, delightfully quirky. Reminds me of the movie Super 8!” BlueInk Review

“Finely wrought, well-crafted with wonderful humor...anyone can get easily wrapped up in Jake’s improbable quest.” Publishers Daily Reviews

“Inventive and never predictable. I was immersed.” Paula Stewart sweetsouthernsavings.com

www.dragonsofasheville.com

Available at

a word from the

publisher

VIEWS OF CUBA

t is hard to believe that Christina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban—a book club favorite of the early 1990s and a National Book Award Finalist—is celebrating its 25th year of publication in 2017. The Denver Post wrote of the novel, “With tremendous skill, passion and humor, Garcia just may have written the definitive story of Cuban exiles and some of those they left behind.” Garcia was prompted to write the novel in part, she says, because “The sense of not fitting in either in Havana, or in Miami, the heart of the Cuban exile community, made me start questioning my own identity. Where did I belong? What did it mean to be Cuban?” In this annual Read Global issue featuring books in translation, we remember that just 3 percent of books published in the United States are translated from other languages. And yet, these books in translation are our best opportunity to learn about and empathize with our neighbors across the globe. Photographer Abe Kogan’s compelling black-and-white photos of the people of Cuba taken in 2015 are a cornerstone of this issue. In his photography book Split Seconds Havana, he writes, “[A] majestic city such as Havana and its urban footprint remains throughout time. Through the good times and the bad ones. Great cities will sometimes flip a historic page, occasionally even re-branding themselves. But a great city is always there as a platform for humanity’s expressions and moods and modalities. This is true, be it for a split second or for an eternity. … Havana is one of those cities.” Enjoy the issue. Margaret Brown publisher

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Photograph: Debra Pandak

Lamb to the

Slaughter by Pete Delohery A novel about love and cour age, sin and redemption “Iron” Mike McGann is facing the twilight of his prizefighting career. Desperate for his future, he has refused to honor his promise to his wife to quit the ring and start a family. Rufus “Hurricane” Hilliard is the most menacing presence in prizefighting. But behind his menacing ring presence lives a man nobody knows, a complex man who despises his own image. Rufus “Hurricane” Hilliard vs. “Iron” Mike McGann, just another fight shown on The Continuous Sports Network, but by the time it is over the lives of these and many others will be forever different.

“This heartfelt tale makes a powerful emotional impact.” —Blue Ink Starred Review Also in Spanish: El Cordero al matadero Available in print and e-book at Amazon, xlibris, and Barnes & Noble.

w w w. p e t e d e l o h e r y. c o m

www.chroniclesofthestone.com

N O T E S E H T F O S E L C I N O R H THE C

“Fiona Ingram’s middle-grade series is dead-on: the plot is crisp, the characters are relatable, and they leave the reader wanting more.” Terry Doherty, CEO, The Reading Tub, Inc. (USA) THE SECRET OF THE SACRED SCARAB BOOK I A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. The cousins are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and mysterious events when the evil Dr. Khalid kidnaps them. They learn more about the ancient Seven Stones of Power and the mysterious Shemsu-Hor. They must translate the hieroglyphic clues on the underside of the scarab, as well as rescue the missing archaeologist James Kinnaird, and their friend, the Egyptologist Ebrahim Faza, before time runs out!

AVAILABLE AT

THE SEARCH FOR THE STONE OF EXCALIBUR BOOK II Continuing the adventure that began in Egypt a few months prior in The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair are hot on the trail of the second Stone of Power, one of seven ancient stones lost centuries ago. This stone might be embedded in the hilt of a newly discovered sword that archaeologists believe belonged to King Arthur: Excalibur. However, their longstanding enemy, Dr. Khalid, is following them as they travel to Scotland to investigate an old castle. Little do they know there is another deadly force, the Eaters of Poison, who have their own mission to complete. Time is running out as the confluence of the planets draws closer. Can Justin and Adam find the second Stone of Power and survive? And why did Aunt Isabel send a girl with them?

THE TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL TIMEKEEPER

BOOK III

Continuing the adventure that ended in Britain just a short while ago, cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair, with their friend Kim Maleka, are now hunting for the third Stone of Power, one of seven mysterious stones lost centuries ago. The third stone might be located in an ancient city, hidden in the depths of the Mexican jungle. When their small plane crashes in the jungle, Adam, Justin, Kim, and James are rescued by an uncontacted tribe. James, who is wounded, must stay behind as the kids, with only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, make their way through the dense and dangerous jungle to find the city. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and evading predators are just part of this hazardous task.

“Unparalleled… It is amazing how different theoretical perspectives are lucidly presented and supported by extraordinarily well-chosen examples. First rate; a masterpiece really.”

“A refreshing and insightful analysis… It reveals the technical foundations of how we know what we know about international economic and power relationships.” Professor Andrew Moravcsik, Princeton

Professor Anton Hemerijk, London School of Economics/Amsterdam

“A thought-provoking and very readable account of the key issues facing the world today… written in a very accessible style. Full of humour and anecdotes, this book is untypically easy to read; a page turner, I dare say.” Professor Amy Verdun, Victoria University, Canada

A CRITICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH BY RICHARD T. GRIFFITHS

Have you wondered about how the world economy hangs together, about questions of wealth and poverty, about what to believe and what not to believe? Configuring the World may not have the answers, but it will allow you to pose the right questions. It examines the relationships between politics, economics and society. It discusses the main explanations advanced by economists and social scientists, and it breaks down the ‘evidence’ employed to support their claims. In clear prose, and drawing on examples from around the world, it will help you reframe your approach to global questions. www.configuringtheworld.com

The biography of his life and impact on the music of Today!

This biography travels through Claude’s lifetime, including birth, childhood, education, life in the army, and career, concluding with the legacy of Claude’s life and his impact on today’s music. Tributes and stories from friends and colleagues, as well as pictures from events and major happenings in his life are included. If you want to know or learn about Claude Thomas Smith, this is the book!

Order your copy today at www.claudetsmith.com

What you can’t see

might be murder. “Roz is an enormously appealing narrator, her tangled emotions about everything from needing to ask for help to navigating friendships both believable and sympathetic.” -Kirkus Reviews“Through the teen’s gripping first-person viewpoint, the mystery and romance universalize the struggle to discover and confront the truth.” -Booklist“Teen readers will enjoy trying to sort out all the clues in solving this murder mystery and gain a clear perspective on the emotional drama of high school relationships when merely getting through the day is a high-stakes matter.” -IRA/Reading Today Online“No young person who reads this book will ever again regard their less fortunate classmates in the same way.” -Lois Duncan, author of Stranger With My Face and Down A Dark Hall“An utterly believable mystery, gritty with high school drama and shot through with suspense. ... A captivating read, right to the last page.” -Carol Plum-Ucci, author of The Body of Christopher Creed-

www.LauraEllenBooks.com AVAILABLE AT

“Using Roz’s naivety and partial blindness, the author creates a mystery with a gritty, issue-oriented storyline to engage readers. The dark tone of the novel adds to the suspense of the story, making for a compelling, entertaining read. ... young adults will appreciate the author’s honesty with the subjects.” -VOYA-

feature

interview

“Split Seconds Havana features the people, the architecture and, of course, the iconic ‘50s era cars of Cuba’s capital city. The presentation is candid, direct and thought-provoking but never unkind or judgmental. The images tell the story. Kogan is an International Independent Publishers Gold Award winner for his photography.” —splitsecondsphotos.com

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Shelf Unbound: You took these photos in Havana in 2015. What interested you in photographing the people of Cuba? Abe Kogan: They are a fascinating mix of people. Downtrodden in an economic sense and more, yet high in spirit. They carry themselves with dignity and poise. An underlying elegance is ever present. Also, loving Cuban music, which to me comes in third place after Jazz and Brazilian Jazz samba/Bossa nova. Any people that can compose, play and vibrate to their music must

also be visually alluring and captivating and meaningful to photograph, don’t you think? But also, I was smelling change in the air. Some would say my nose is defective and that major change has been occurring over the last 20 years. And it has. Still I felt that there would perhaps be a serious spike in the rate of change that could speed like wildfire. So I decided that I had better go sooner rather than later. Shelf Unbound: You talk about taking these “split second” photographs.

UNBOUND

What can we see in a photo that we would miss in just looking at something? Kogan: This is tricky. If a subject is lost in a moment of thought and stationary or transfixed there won’t be any difference between the video capture (looking) and a photograph of that someone or a group of people. Still though, the split second freezing will record for you what you were looking at, and will bring back that longer moment and mood and interplay that you would have had when looking at the stationary moment.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Yet when you can witness a split second from within a moving and rapidly changing sequence, that’s where the camera excels. With luck, you may have before you a visual and mood moment that could have been lost when just looking. Or you may have missed that moment altogether. Like a half expression. Or an in-between moment that the eye has no way of freezing or becoming cognizant of. The eye roves and views like a movie camera. A camera can bring to you what you could not see no matter how carefully or focused you may have been.

Shelf Unbound: What are your impressions of the people of Cuba? Kogan: Warm, communicative, engaging, curious, ready for a laugh. The opposite of boring or complacent. I sense that Habaneros would like to have change and opportunity to engage in a wider capacity

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

with the world at large. What comes to mind are the endless groups of people, mostly young, but not only, with their laptops, tablets and phones sitting outside banks or hotels. Why is this? Because someone within the bank or hotel or other institution would slip them the password that would

enable them to get a free connection which otherwise is quite prohibitively costly. These wonderful poachers would sit on pavement or stone or if available a bench as close or far away as the connection would allow. Serene, serious, browsing, studying, viewing, absorbing for the future. Like a midnight outdoor classroom. Fabulous. Shelf Unbound: What makes Cuba different from anywhere else you have visited? Kogan: I cannot speak for Cuba. I focused

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

on Havana. But if Havana speaks for Cuba, then it has to be an underdevelopment. A broken potential. A pronounced interruption. This is even more readily recognizable by what one does not see as opposed to what one witnesses. Shelf Unbound: What do you want viewers to take away from seeing your photos? Kogan: A desire to see Cuba for themselves before it changes and loses some of its distinctiveness.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A suspenseful, imaginative, and well-told horror story.â&#x20AC;? [ Kirkus Review ]

Walt Erickson is a famous author whose books are read by millions of adoring fans, but he has never written a word of his own novels. The secret behind his novels is the stuff of nightmares.

WWW.ALANAYER.COM

www.codenamearcangelbrucejarvis.com

In his collection First Poem of Words, Jef Harris dives into various modes of poetic license and expression. The poems are sectioned off into what he terms “TriWords,” which are used, as Harris writes in the author’s note, for their “linguistic allure” as opposed to their “conventional denotations.”

“From the crooked mouth of a singer in Seoul, South Korea, to the desire to dance himself naked after seeing Michelangelo’s David, the worldview presented in Harris’ poems surprises and often delights.”

—Clarion Reviews

—BlueInk Reviews

Discover a personal reflection of experiences, places, peoples, trials, and successes

First poem of words by JEF HARRIS

The words in this glittering collection of poems and lyrics form one of the most naked self-exposures undertaken by a former Soldier. Harris reveals himself with vibrant literary invention and hopes to inspire by sharing poignant thoughts, encourage by spreading ardent hope, and enlighten by being honest and forthright. Speaking face-to-face to his readers, the author paints a colorful tapestry of language in First Poem of Words that invites you to read or listen, appreciate and understand as you relate to the emotive messages in his voice.

www.jefharrispoems.com

Limited time only, 50% discount on all products.

By vinita moch ricks

through the lens of the

transatlantic slave trade Unacknowledged policies and mindsets from the Transatlantic Slave Trade (1444-1888) continue to perpetuate injustices and instability, destroying people and the planet. It keeps the world in conquest terror alert mode shaping human interactions and expectations. “I highly recommend this book. It is highly insightful, on point, an excellent source of references, and thought provoking for the “critical thinker.” —Harold Springer, Amazon Review

“This book was an enlightening journey from Africa to the US from the prospective of the African kings, European slave traders, Ancient Americans, corporate business, government and church.” —Aaron Johnson, Amazon Review

www.vinitamochricks.com Hall 6.0 Booth 17 in the Frankfurt International Book fair.

feature

classic cuban literature

Introduction to the 25th Anniversary Edition

Dreaming in Cuban: 25th Anniversary Edition by Cristina Garcia

Ballantine Books randomhousebooks.com 26

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

quarter century? How is that possible? I remember very well finishing Dreaming in Cuban. It was the fall of 1990 and I was living in a seaside cottage on the windward side of Oahu. My daughter, who would be named Pilar— like the feisty teenager in the novel—was still two years from being born. It was a rainy tropical morning when I printed out my final draft of the book (it was called Tropic of Resemblances then, from a beloved Wallace Stevens poem), bundled it up, and drove to Honolulu to express mail it to New York. I can’t recall what, exactly, I whispered to those pages—I can be quite Cuban superstitious—but I definitely wished my novel suerte before sending it on its way. I couldn’t have dreamed, beyond my wildest dreams, what would happen to my story of four cubanas—Celia, Felicia, Lourdes, and Pilar—and their bitter divisions over the Cuban Revolution. This novel, my first, was loosely based on the politically divided women in my own family: my staunchly communist grandmother in Cuba (who died some years

ago at the age of 102); and my equally staunch, anti-Castro mother exiled in Brooklyn. Their stories were the ones I absorbed growing up in New York and, later, on my visits to the island. Had other children, I wondered, grown up in similarly charged political force fields? Were other families afflicted by, what seemed to me, impossible choices of identity and belonging? Was it conceivable to love both one’s mother and grandmother and not be entirely with them, or against them? To choose, instead, to be something in between, or altogether different? For me, writing Dreaming in Cuban became a poetic inquiry into the nature of allegiances, both familial and political, and an exploration of becoming and belonging in the context and aftermath of cataclysmic historical events. What was the trickle-down effect of the Cuban Revolution on the ordinary lives of ordinary women? How might I chronicle their lives? Do justice to the nature of their triumphs and discontents, their separations and broken hearts? I longed to tell their stories in ways that defied and evaded any one pervasive “truth” but instead permitted them to compete,

legitimately, for their own narratives and subjective emotional experiences. Writing these women’s stories, too, enabled me to consider the infinite ways one could be Cuban and CubanAmerican, and to accommodate, fictionally at least, radically divergent refractions of reality. It broke, for me, the stranglehold of history’s officialdoms and proclamations and paved the way for more complex, nuanced approaches to storytelling. Cuba has changed a great deal since 1992, when it was in the depths of the so-called Special Period. Cubans suffered terrible privations resulting from the fall of the old Soviet Union, and its attendant subsidies to the island. Revamped experimentations with tourism and limited private enterprise ensued. Finally, in December 2014, came the announcement that the United States and Cuba would resume diplomatic relations after more than a half-century of hostilities. Then Fidel Castro died in 2016. Amidst all these changes, one thing has remained constant: Cuba and Cubans, whether on the island or in its many diasporas, continue to capture a disproportionate share of the world’s attention and imagination. Whether this is due to Cuba’s geopoHad other children, I litical proximity to the Unitwondered, grown up ed States, its contributions to in similarly charged world music and culture, or political force fields? to the vibrancy and, yes, pasWere other families sion of its peoples, Cuba alafflicted by, what ways manages to stay in the seemed to me, global limelight. impossible choices of I couldn’t be more delightidentity and belonging? ed that Dreaming in Cuban has resonated with so many readers over the years, and I hope that it may continue to do so for many more to come. I would like to dedicate this 25th anniversary edition to my daughter, Pilar Garcia-Brown, who was born in the same year of its publication. Happy birthday to you both! —Cristina Garcia, San Francisco, CA, January 2017 From Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, Ballantine Books, randomhousebooks.com. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. UNBOUND

This is the story of the assassination whose perpetrators were hidden for 150 years. The meticulous preparations of the conspirators are brought to light by the documents and evidence that was collected at the time, but obscured from public view in the national archives. “The colored people believe Mr. Lincoln to be the best friend that we had. I would go to the point of my life to find the murderers.” This lament was expressed by John Morris, an African American worker in Ford’s theater, and it showed the affection that the African American community had for Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Morris and the other African American employees of Ford’s theater were particularly distressed because the had seen the meticulous preparations that the Ford’s and their employees had successfully made to ensure that Lincoln would be murdered and Booth escape. They believed that he was killed because he had worked tirelessly to win their freedom and had been killed because of it. They did their best to catch the murderers but were thwarted by the individuals conducting the search. Joseph Holt, the Judge Advocate General of the Army,who conducted the investigation would not release any of the information that The African Americans gave him to the press and those who knew too much were arrested and put in prison to prevent any leaking of incriminating evidence, and seven African Americans were arrested. The effort by the African American community to catch Booth has never been made public before. This book is the only one ever published that gives them credit and names names using actual testimony in the archives. This is a part of history that has been hidden too long.

Available in print at

Available in ebook at

Captain Robert Arnold is a retired Naval Surgeon who was an Instructor in Advanced Trauma Life Support for the Department of Defense. He was a member of Fleet Surgical Team Four as well. He was deployed several times and served all over the world – from the Arctic Circle to the Indian Ocean. As a civilian, Dr. Arnold practiced General Surgery and was the Assistant Coroner for Jefferson County for five years. He currently lives in Louisville, KY with Betty, his wife of 60 years.

a cowb g n i m o c e B can't be that hard, oy

can it?

It certainly looks easy to Franklyn “Frank” Ellington Seton IV. Smothered by both his overbearing mother and stuffy Maryland Society, Frank escapes to the vistas of his childhood. He will soon learn, however, that the one thing the movies left out was the smell. And the dirt. And the horses. As Frank makes his way through mid-twentieth century America, he searches for a place he truly belongs. And if being an actual cowboy is too difficult, why not try Hollywood?

“With a mixture of nostalgia, melancholy, and heaps of humor, The True Life of a Singing Cowboy will lasso you from the first note.”

AVAILABLE AT

feature

classic cuban literature

“Cabrera Infante’s masterpiece, Three Trapped Tigers is one of the most playful books to reach the U.S. from Cuba. Filled with puns, wordplay, lists upon lists, and Sternean typography—such as the section entitled “Some Revelations,” which consists of several blank pages—this novel has been praised as a more modern, sexier, funnier, Cuban Ulysses. Centering on the recollections of a man separated from both his country and his youth, Cabrera Infante creates an enchanting vision of life and the many colorful characters found in steamy Havana’s pre-Castro cabaret society.” —dalkeyarchive.com Essay by Suzanne Jill Levine

Three Trapped Tigers

by G. Cabrera Infante translated by Suzanne Jill Levine Dalkey Archive Press dalkeyarchive.com 30

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

uillermo Cabrera Infante’s Tres tristes tigres (Three Sad Tigers translated into Three Trapped Tigers) was a subversively groundbreaking masterpiece when it came out in the mid1960s. It became a book all Cubans read aloud (and after Fidel Castro banned the book in a repressive act of censorship, it has become an underground classic for generations). A vast fragment recalling the nightlife fauna of Havana before the revolution, a Cuban Satyricon, this book was the first work to turn “Cuban” into a literary language—rich with slang and tonguetwisters (beginning with the title), wordplays, polyglot puns and Joycean dislocutions—a multi-ethnic Cuban Spanish that is ultimately Havanan. Living in the island-city of his exile, London from 1965 until his death in 2005, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, originally a journalist and a film critic in his native country, set out, in writing this book, to counter the alienation of exile by bringing the voices, humor, choteo of Havana to life. Cabrera Infante and I as translating collaborators on TTT (which he called it as if it were an explosive bomb), or “closelaborators” (a term he invented), found that we shared the city-wise language of American movies and a Groucho Marxist sense of verbal non-sense whose literary antecedent could be found in Lewis Carroll and his looking-glass world. Returning to English, one of the sources of the source, signifies betraying the original’s critique of the language of the exploiter, but also, finally, exploiting or cannibalizing the exploiter. Cabrera Infante,

in explaining the process of translating TTT—he and I actually reworked the first translation, which he had done in collaboration with a British translator—told an interviewer that I brought to TTT: that sense of humor characteristic of New York Jews, which is based on play upon words and confronts reality with strict verbal logic. “Nothing was closer to my purpose in TTT than the philosophy of life expressed by the Marx brothers, and in Jill Levine my three Marxistigers had met their Margaret Dumont! While by day Jill Levine-Dumont was busy destroying with alice aforethought the remains of the stiff-upperand-underlips, the sometimes metaphrastic construction of the English version of TTT, by night I went on building my construction of a phrase, of a word, of a phoneme—and even went so far as to treat proper names as subjects of linguistic experiments, as I did in Spanish.” Gaining access to the mind of a genius of language such as Cabrera Infante makes us realize one of the most valuable ways in which a translator enriches her own language is by being a good critic, by choosing wisely and wildly the writers s/he translates, as in the case of this brilliant and engaging work. Rita Guibert, “Interview: Guillermo Cabrera Infante,” Seven Voices. (New York: Knopf, 1972), 414.

NEW TRANSLATION FROM SUZANNE JILL LEVINE

Uselessness

by Eduardo Lalo translated by Suzanne Jill Levine coming October 2017 University of Chicago Press press.uchicago.edu

“The streets of Paris at night are pathways coursing with light and shadow, channels along which identity may be formed and lost, where the grand inflow of history, art, language, and thought—and of love—can both inspire and enfeeble. For the narrator of Eduardo Lalo’s Uselessness, it is a world long desired. But as this young aspiring writer discovers upon leaving his home in San Juan to study—to live and be reborn—in the city of his dreams, Paris’s twinned influences can rip you apart. Lalo’s first novel, Uselessness is something of a bildungsroman of his own student days in Paris. But more than this, it is a literary précis of his oeuvre—of themes that obsess him still. Told in two parts, Uselessness first follows our narrator through his romantic and intellectual awakenings in Paris, where he elevates his adopted home over the moribund one he has left behind. But as he falls in and out of love he comes to realize that as a Puerto Rican, he will always be apart. Ending the greatest romance of his life—that with the city of Paris itself— he returns to San Juan. And in this new era of his life, he is forced to confront choices made, ambitions lost or unmet—to look upon lives not lived. A tale of the travails of youthful romance and adult acceptance, of foreignness and isolation both at home and abroad, and of the stultifying power of the desire to belong— and to be moved—Uselessness is here rendered into English by the masterful translator Suzanne Jill Levine. For anyone who has been touched by the disquieting passion of Paris, Uselessness is a stirring saga.” —press.uchicago.edu UNBOUND

A LEGAL THRILLER BY CHRISTOPHER LEIBIG

“The Verdict is in—

THREE BRUTAL MURDERS ONE MYSTERIOUS JOURNAL

Attorney Christopher Leibig offers a legal thriller for the ages. Realistic yet unpredictable, with a clever metaphysical twist, Almost Mortal is a thrilling roller coaster ride.”

Can Sam solve the “Rosslyn Ripper” case before the killer strikes again?

Robert Dugoni, New York Times and Amazon number one bestselling author of “My Sister’s Grave.” “A poised protagonist leads this serpentine but engaging legal tale.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A page-turner that you’ll probably want to read twice.” – Patricia McCardle, author of Amazon’s awardwinning novel, Farishta.

Camille shares an old journal anonymously mailed to the Church, which she believes may have been authored by the killer/confessor. The journal purports to tell the life story of a man with mind control and other special powers who claims to be a descendant of the fallen angels cast of out Heaven by God. As he learns more about the murders, the mystery author, and Camille, Sam begins to realize the so called “Rosslyn Ripper” case may have implications beyond his imagination—including his own past.

Christopher Leibig is a novelist and criminal defense lawyer who lives and works in Alexandria, Virginia. His first two published books, Saving Saddam (2008), and Montanamo (2010) were published by Artnik Books in London. Saving Saddam was released in 2014 in the United States under the title Black Rabbit. Chris also has several published short stories – Secret Admirer (The Cynic on-line magazine 2004) Coldcocked (Skyline magazine FICTION: Thrillers/Legal 2004), Fly (The Cynic on-line magazine 2009), Intervention (Traveller’s Playground Press 2014), and Paradise City (Traveller’s Playground Press 2014). Chris has also published numerous articles on criminal defense and related topics – including in the Huffington Post and The Examiner – and appeared as a legal expert regularly since 2009 in print and television media – including Fox News, CNN, The Washington Post, $15.95 The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated. He and his colleagues regularly lecture at law schools throughout Europe and the Caribbean.

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“The verdict is in–Attorney Christopher Leibig offers a legal thriller for the ages. Realistic yet unpredictable, with a clever metaphysical twist, Almost Mortal is a thrilling roller coaster ride!” —Robert Dugoni, #1 Amazon, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author of My Sister’s Grave

christopher Leibig

emerging criminal defense attorney Sam Young has always known he had a gift. Or a curse. He thinks of them as minor psychic abilities. When Sam is hired by an attractive young nun named Camille Paradisi, he agrees to help discover the identity of a serial killer in order to prevent Camille’s pastor from being exposed for not reporting the man after a confession – thereby allowing another murder to occur. While Sam’s psychic abilities increase as he investigates the case and gets closer to Camille, he realizes that the enigmatic nun is not revealing the complete truth. Camille shares an old journal anonymously mailed to the church, which she believes may have been authored by the killer/ confessor. The journal, which begins in Argentina in the 1940’s, purports to tell the life story of a man with mind control and other special powers who claims to be a descendant of the fallen angels cast out of heaven by God. As Sam learns more about the murders, the journal author, and Camille, he begins to realize the so called “Rosslyn Ripper” case may have ancient implications beyond his imagination.

ALMOST MORTAL

Emerging criminal defense attorney Sam Young has always known he had a gift. Or a curse. He thinks of them as just minor psychic abilities. When Sam is hired by an attractive young nun named Camille Paradisi, he must discover the identity of a serial killer. Otherwise Camille’s Pastor will be exposed for not having turned in the man after a confession—thereby allowing another murder to occur. While Sam’s psychic abilities increase as he investigates the case, he quickly learns that the enigmatic Camille is not revealing the complete truth.

köehlerbooks

Winner 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Award

köehlerbooks 2016 Chanticleer Grand Prize Winner—Fiction: Paranormal TM

köehlerbooks

Christopher Leibig is a novelist and criminal defense lawyer who lives and works in Alexandria, Virginia.

www.chrisleibig.com

CARRIE MERRILL

A fast-paced, paranormal adventure, Angel Blade is a series that follows Nikka, a young woman who was dying of cancer until a stranger provided a cure in exchange for becoming a demon hunter. As the seraph, Nikka now wields the power to exorcise and destroy demons, but she must face the most powerful forces of Hell that will try to bring about the End of Days.

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The following is an excerpt from the book’s introduction by Timothy Brennan, Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota.

The Lost Steps

by Alejo Carpentier translated by Harriet de Onis University of Minnesota Press upress.umn.edu 34

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ranslated into twenty languages, and published in more than fourteen Spanish editions, The Lost Steps (Los pasos perdidas, 1953) is Carpentier’s most heralded novel. Robert Church, a London-based critic, wrote in the New Chronicle that “this book belongs alongside Moby-Dick and The Plumed Serpent. It is much, much more than literature.” In Paris, Andre Rousseau wrote in Le Figaro Litteraire that “[Carpentier’s] work has a profound significance in contemporary literature. The Lost Steps is the greatest novel to have appeared in Latin America in our time.” On the basis of a reading of the novel, Edith Sitwell proclaimed Carpentier “without a doubt one of the greatest living writers.” In 1956, the book re-

ceived France’s prize for the best foreign novel of that year. Whether highbrow or middlebrow, many different audiences have found irresistible its portrayal of the paralyzed artiste among villagers in the heart of a South American jungle. The actor Tyrone Power had read the novel in London, and set about immediately to bring it to the screen. He went as far as buying the rights to the film, setting up a production schedule, and hiring Irving Shaw to direct it. Ava Gardner was to play Mouche and Gina Lollobrigida, Rosario. Power died, however, before the filming ever took place. Published when Carpentier was forty-nine, the book nevertheless appeared toward the beginning of the author’s ventures into fiction writing. … The title itself is an allusion to Andre Breton’s volume of essays, Les pas perdus (1924), which means, significantly, both “the lost steps” and “the not lost.” … In Carpentier’s “American Cycle” of novels, The Kingdom of This World and Explosion in a Cathedral are resolute treatments of history; The Lost Steps, though, is an analysis of time itself. Its musician narrator lives by the metronome, “the ultimate Whether highbrow Measurer of Time’s passing.” or middlebrow, many He is busy wasting his life, medifferent audiences andering in New York, toying have found irresistible with the idea of defrauding his its portrayal of the benefactors with fake scholarparalyzed artiste ship on the “origins of primitive among villagers in music.” He is, of course, a verthe heart of a South sion of Carpentier himself—at American jungle. least, some doppelganger that Carpentier, in his own mind, feared he might become. Even the denouement revolves around a musical score that only a passage back through time makes possible. If The Lost Steps is Carpentier’s way of purging his own past, its eloquence comes from the terrified recognition of what he might have been. The novel is a self-condemnation. And yet, only by composing it was Carpentier able to avoid the narrator’s fate. From The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier, University of Minnesota Press. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. UNBOUND

FROM AUTHOR HERB ROMERO

After hearing family stories handed down over the generations, I decided that once I retired I would conduct a thorough search of my family roots. Our family tree branches out across the world; from the Spanish conquistadors to our Native Americans and the eventful history of our American southwest. My first book, The Adventurers, chronicles the history of the southwest by exploring where it all began, in the sixteenth century. This timeline continues to evolve in Always North. A fresh historical perspective paired with little known historical facts is woven seamlessly throughout both books.

AVAILABLE IN E-BOOK AND PRINT

“Science fiction fans, particularly those who question violence in its many forms, will appreciate Aftermath.”

A hypokinetic alien attack tale sets a non-standard pace for the sci-fi genre. Kirkus Reviews

Foreword Clarion Review

NOMADS, PIRATES, AND FROGFACES It has been two years since the earth was invaded by the aliens that humans refer to as frogfaces. The majority of the human race has either been killed or abducted, and those who remain wander with little direction or hope, forming nomadic groups who stay on the run to keep themselves out of the hands of the invaders. Albert is a former biology teacher who does his best to keep his friends fed, sheltered, and safe not only from the aliens but also from lawless gangs of nomads who call themselves pirates and who raid other human survivors. When his small band is saved from pirates by another collection of survivors, however, it soon becomes clear that change is in the air. The new group is large, and their leader, Julia, is working to make life better for humanity. But what are they really after—and what is it that the frogfaces ultimately want from earth? Only time will tell whether there is any hope left for humankind.

“...this story features some of the stylistic flair common to Romance language authors, lending a nice touch to magic realism...” BlueInk Review

S.L. FERREIRA

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“Cecilia Valdés is arguably the most important novel of 19th century Cuba. Originally published in New York City in 1882, Cirilo Villaverde’s novel has fascinated readers inside and outside Cuba since the late 19th century. In this new English translation, a vast landscape emerges of the moral, political, and sexual depravity caused by slavery and colonialism.” —global.oup.com Prologue by Cirilo Villaverde, written May 1879

Cecilia Valdes or El Angel Hill

by Cirilo Villaverde translated from the Spanish by Helen Lane Oxford University Press oup.com 38

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brought out the first volume of this novel in an edition printed by the Imprenta Literaria of Don Lino Valdes in the middle of the year 1839. At the same time I began the composition of the second volume which was to be the conclusion of it; but I did not work on it a great deal, both because I moved to Matanzas shortly thereafter to serve as one of the teachers in the secondary school of La Empresa that had recently been founded in that city, and because once I settled there, I began the composition of another novel, La joven de la fleche de oro, that I finished and had printed in one volume in the year 1841.

On my return to the capital in 1842, while continuing to teach, I joined the editorial staff of El Faro Industrial, to which I devoted all my literary works and novels that followed one upon the other almost without interruption until the middle of 1848. … After midnight on October 20 of this latter year, I was surprised in bed and placed under arrest by Barreda, the chief of police of the district of Monserrate, accompanied by a great crowd of soldiers and constables, and taken to the public prison, by order of the captain general of the island, Don Federico Roncaly. Confined like a wild animal to a dark, damp cell, I remained there for six consecutive months, at the end of which, after being tried and sentenced to prison by the permanent military commission as a conspirator against the rights of the crown of Spain, I managed to escape on April 4, 1849, along with Don Vicente Fernandez Blanco, a common criminal, and the turnkey of the prison, Garcia Rey, who shortly thereafter was the cause of a serious controversy between the governments of Spain and the United States. By a strange happenstance,

the three of us left the port of Havana together in a sailboat, but we remained in one another’s company only as far as the estuary of Apalachicola, on the southern coast of Florida, whence I traveled overland to Savannah and New York. Once outside of Cuba, I completely altered my way of life. I replaced my literary tastes with higher thoughts: I went from the world of illusions to the world of realities; I abandoned, at last, the frivolous occupations of the slave in a land of slaves, to take part in the undertakings of the free man in a free land. My manuscripts and books had been left behind, and even though they were sent to me a while later, I was fated not to be able to do anything with them, since first as a member of the editorial staff of La Verdad, a Cuban separatist newspaper, and then as General Narciso Lopez’s military secretary, I led a very active and agitated life, far removed from sedentary studies and work. The failure of Cardenas’s expedition in 1850, the disaster of the invasion of Las Pozas, and the death of the distinguished leader of our ill-advised attempt at revolution in 1851 did not put a stop to, but on the contrary, lent new life to our plans to liberate Cuba, a hope that Cuban patriots had been cherishing since the earliest years of this century. All of them, however, like those of earlier days, ended in disasters and misfortunes in the year 1854. In 1858 I found myself in Havana once again after a nine-year absence. My novel Dos amores having been reprinted at that time in Senor Prospero Massana’s press, on his advice I undertook to revise, or better put, to recast the other novel, Cecilia Valdes, of which only the first volume existed in printed form and a small portion of the second in manuscript. I mapped out the new plan for the novel down to its smallest details, wrote the foreword, and was working on the development of the plot when I was once again obliged to leave the country. The vicissitudes that followed this second voluntary expatriation, the necessity of providing for the subsistence of my family in a foreign country, the political agitation that had begun to be felt in Cuba since 1865, and the journalistic tasks that I then took on, did not give me the energy or the leisure, especially with no expectation of any immediate monetary reward, to devote myself wholeheartedly to the long and tedious labor required to cut, expand, and completely recast the most voluminous and most complicated of my literary works. UNBOUND

After the renewed agitation of 1865 to 1868 came the revolution of the latter year and the bloody, decade-long war in Cuba, accompanied by the tumultuous scenes staged by Cuban emigres in all the nearby countries, especially in New York. As before, and as ever, I replaced my literary occupations with militant politics, inasmuch as the pen and the word were instruments at least as violent in the United States as the rifle and the machete in Cuba. During most of this era of delirium and of patriotic dreams, the manuscript of the novel of course lay sleeping. What am I saying? It did not progress beyond half a dozen chapters, drafted in my spare moments, when the memory of my motherland soaked in the blood of her best sons, was there before me in all her horror and all her beauty and seemed to demand of those who loved her well and deeply the faithful portrayal of her existence from a threefold point of view—physical, moral, and social—before her death or else her elevation to the life of free peoples entirely changed the characteristic features of her former countenance. Hence in no sense can I be said to have really devoted 40 years (the period dating 1839 to the present) to the composition of the novel. Once I resolved to finish it, some two or three years ago, the most that I have been able to do has been to finish a chapter, with many interruptions, every two weeks, at times every month, working a few hours during the week and all day every Sunday. Composing works of the imagination in this way, it is not easy to keep the interest of the narrative constant, or the action always lively and well plotted, or the style even and natural, or the welltempered and sustained tone that works in the novelistic genre require. And that is one of the reasons that impel me to speak of the novel and of myself. The other is that, in the final analysis, my painting has turned out to be so somber and so tragic that being Cuban as I am to the very marrow, and a moral man, I would feel a sort of fear or shame were I to present it to the public without an explanatory word in my defense. I am fully aware that foreigners, that is to say, persons who are not closely acquainted with the customs or the period of the history of Cuba that I have attempted to paint will perhaps believe that I have chosen the darkest colors and overloaded the painting with shadows for the mere pleasure of creating an effect a la Rembrandt or a la Gustave Dore. Nothing 40

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

was farther from my mind. I pride myself on being, before all else, a writer who is a realist, taking this word in the artistic sense attributed to it in the modern era. … The work that is today first seeing the light of day in its entirety does not contain all the defects of language and of style found in the first volume printed in Havana; if there is greater decorum and truth in the portrayal of the characters, if certain scenes and sentences of scant or dubious morality have been eliminated, if the general tone of the composition is more uniform and animated, this is owed in large part to the advice of my wife, whom I have been able to consult chapter by chapter as I finished each of them. —C. Villaverde, New York, May 1879

LITERARY LOU DISCOVER A Small amount of courage has a giant impact in this book that is sure to be fun for the whole family. When a small, fluffy cat teams up with an advice giving canary, a cockatoo, some jazzloving alley cats and a fancy mouse to protect their home from a villainous hoodlum rat, a hero is born.

Discover the imagination of author

Louis Paul DeGrado

Four Times Book of the Year Finalist, Three Times Editor’s Choice Award and 2017 Gold Award for Juvenile Fiction.

www.LiteraryLou.com

Destiny is a choice in this Fantasy Adventure!

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Within the towering walls of the city by the sea, a dark secret is being kept. Its history wiped out two hundred years ago by foreign invasion; even now the city stands poised to repel another attack and lives in fear of the people across the sea.

The Questor’s are BACK! Pueblo, Colorado—What do you call a group of young boys who dare to seek out and investigate the paranormal? They called themselves the Questors! What happens when four young boys visit a haunted house? Excitement, adventure and mayhem.

Evil once controlled the 13th Month and is looking to do so again! When a revered priest, Father Frank Keller learns that a family in his parish has been targeted by evil entities, he’s thrust into a covert battle between forces of good and evil.

What if survival required you to unlearn who you are? How far would you fall to save yourself? Sometimes happiness is a long way down. “ ...highly addictive, spectacular, and mind blowing...Thomas is a wizard of fiction.” —US Review of Books “A sweeping literary saga in the tradition of ‘Dr. Zhivago’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, and ‘The Thorn Birds’, this book has it all...original and stirring...” —The Eric Hoffer Book Award

An Amazon Best Seller

“ ...Every now and then, seemingly out of nowhere, a new voice comes along and knocks your socks off. Owen Thomas owns that voice... .” —The Anchorage Press “ ...This is a powerful, gripping and realistic story... . The Lion Trees does what so very few great novels can: it will take a lot out of you, but leave you with much more than you had when you began.” —Pacific Book Review

The Johns family is unraveling. Hollis, a retired Ohio banker, isolates himself in esoteric hobbies and a dangerous flirtation with a colleague’s daughter. Susan, his wife of forty years, risks everything for a second chance at who she might have become. David, their eldest, thrashes to stay afloat as his teaching career capsizes in a storm of accusations involving a missing student and the legacy of Christopher Columbus. And young Tilly, the black sheep, having traded literary promise for an improbable career as a Hollywood starlet, struggles to define herself amid salacious scandal, the demands of a powerful director, and the judgments of an uncompromising writer. By turns comical and poignant, the Johns family is tumbling toward the discovery that sometimes you have to let go of your identity to find out who you are.

lives and writes in Anchorage, Alaska. His novel “The Lion Trees” is available at Amazon.com. Reviews, excerpts, interviews, discussion guides, as well as other information about the author and his work, are available at

OwenThomasFiction.com

AWARDS: WINNER of the KINDLE BOOK AWARD, the GLOBAL EBOOK AWARD, BOOKS AND AUTHOR.com BOOK of the YEAR, and 12 other International Book Awards, including The Eric Hoffer Book Award, The London Book Festival, The New York Book Festival, The Amsterdam Book Festival, and The Beverly Hills International Book Awards.

“This meticulously researched volume follows the evolution of the United States from 13 disparate, self-interested colonies to one nation united by the Constitution… The author shows a knack for choosing the best material to reinforce his points.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Many excellent books survey the genesis, writing, and ratification of the American Constitution... Donald J. Fraser’s outstanding new book deserves to share the same shelf as these classics; indeed, in some ways, it supersedes them.” —Blueink Starred Review

About the Author: DONALD J. FRASER has spent a lifetime working in a variety of capacities in government. Fraser holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public policy and administration. He currently teaches through the extension program at the University of California at Davis.

Divisiveness is the hallmark of American politics today. Sometimes it seems we are no longer one nation, but in fact we are. Division and argument have always been a part of the American scene, no more so than at our founding, as The Emergence of One American Nation explores. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, it is more important than ever to remember the ideas that ignited the American Revolution and that continue to bind us together as one nation.

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classic cuban literature

Ilan Stavans is the LewisSebring professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. This interview was first aired in November 2001, in a somewhat different form, on the program “Conversations with Ilan Stavans,” on PBS-WGBH. ILAN STAVANS: Days of Awe, it strikes me, is about the tension between public and private identities. ACHY OBEJAS: Indeed. It runs from the fifteenth-century Jewish diaspora during the Spanish Inquisition to contemporary Midwest America. But it’s not exactly a linear story. Told from the point of view of Alejandra San Jose, the daughter of Cuban exiles living in Chicago, it’s her personal journey through the family’s history—and Cuba’s history, too—to reconcile her identity and her soul. So it plays something like memory does: It moves according to her needs rather than a traditional time line.

Days of Awe by Achy Obejas

Ballantine Books ballantinebooks.com 44

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IS: Memory—individual memory, family memory, national collective memory—plays an essential role in your work. This is in tune, of course, with Jews and Cuban Americans, whose memory is highly charged.

AO: With Jews, of course, memory is fundamental: to remember the essential; and the recovery itself is a mission. With Jews memory is history and moral lesson. But memory is crucial among Cuban exiles, too, even though as a people we don’t have a very long history. What makes this community a bit different from other Latinos in the United States—and similar to the biblical Jews—is that the relationship with the homeland is ruptured. This might be changing among Cubans now, since there is a great deal of travel to the island, especially for post-1980s immigrants and those who grew up away from their birthplace and want to see it again. The young generation is tremendously curious. It asks, What is there in Cuba for me? Is it at all like the Cuba of dreams and fantasy I was brought up with? IS: Like a lot of your characters, you left Cuba on a boat at the age of six. Do you remember the departure and arrival? How has the scene played itself out in your memory? Has it changed? AO: It has a fragmented, impressionistic texture. Obviously I could not imagine, at that tender age, the unfolding

drama. So, as a child, it was just an adventure. There were a total of forty-four people in a twenty-eight-foot boat. Seventeen of us were kids. It was late at night. We were told we were going fishing. For me, the sequence of events is episodic. For instance, I remember the inky blackness of the water. I also remember a storm. And I remember that we got sprayed with salt water. Halfway through the trip, we were picked up by an American oil tanker. Our little wooden boat suddenly was at the side of this huge metal ship. It was gigantic. I couldn’t see above it, to the sides, under it—it was tremendous. It was like a wall in the ocean and Cuba was on the other side. Rope ladders came down. The little ones like me were handed up to the sailors by our parents. My father pushed me up. I remember a hot, pink arm, completely hairless, and the sailor’s smell. The sailor grabbed me and hauled me up—not in a violent fashion but gently. Then he put me down on the floor of the oil tanker. I remember looking up at him and thinking, Might I have landed on Mars? IS: What happened during The young generation the first few years as a little cubanita in the United States— is tremendously the process of arrival, assimicurious. It asks, What lation, the process of becoming, slowly, through school, is there in Cuba for through family, una americana? me? Is it at all like the AO: My family was in Miami Cuba of dreams and for about a year and a half. fantasy I was brought Then my parents signed up up with? for a program designed to assimilate Cuban professionals into American society. It was in Terra Haute, Indiana. So the family got transported to the Midwest. The landscape changed dramatically. I found myself in fields of corn, surrounded by lots of people who didn’t understand us, while we didn’t understand them. I spent six to eight months not uttering a word because I was in a classroom where it was forbidden to speak Spanish, and, obviously, I couldn’t yet speak English. I was afraid of being made fun of if I spoke en ingles. So I made a decision: I wouldn’t speak English until I could do it without an accent. UNBOUND

IS: How does it feel to be called a Latina? Or are you a Cuban only? AO: I often feel Latina, although my metabolism, I take it, is different from other people’s. I live in Chicago, which has substantive, representative numbers of different Latino subgroups, none of which dominates the mix: a gazillion Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, and smaller components, such as the Cuban minority. No matter how segregated the city might be, everybody ends up knowing everybody else. In a Mexican restaurant, the jukebox will have Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. In a Cuban restaurant, the waitress—who is probably Nicaraguan—brings tortilla chips to the table. The collage is inescapable. It means that we are all over each other. IS: Another essential element in your literature is sexuality. AO: When it comes to sexuality, I’m not especially interested in assimilation but I am interested in normalization. What I mean is that there are different cultural imperatives for gay, bisexual, transgendered, and other people with alternative sexualities— whatever they might be—and I think it’s important that those identities be recognized and celebrated. I think that can be accomplished without shock, without judgment, and certainly without the kinds of legal consequences that make queer people second-class citizens in most of the world. In Days of Awe, I tried to just let everybody be whatever they were going to be, to live and love according to their hearts rather than any particular label. IS: Days of Awe is rich, yet its style isn’t baroque … AO: It seems that in the United States, books by Latin American and Latino writers that have the slightest abstraction or surrealism frequently get tagged as “magic realist,” whether they fit the bill or not. Cuban fiction isn’t really like that, and neither is Days of Awe. This is a story grounded not just in history, but in reality--in a reality that’s astounding, but reality nonetheless. Alejo Carpentier, the Cuban author of The Lost Steps and an essayist of much influence in Latin America, called this phenomenon lo real maravilloso—the marvelously real, or the marvelous reality. The idea, to which I wholeheartedly subscribe, is that reality, real life, is already so awe-inspiring that we don’t really need to invent much for it to be truly amazing. IS: The novel pays homage to Cuban literature, doesn’t it? There is a myriad of overt and hidden references to authors and characters. 46

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AO: What I was trying to do was pay tribute to Cuban writers who have been influential or to whom I feel I owe a debt. Most readers will recognize the reference to Celestino, the boy who writes poems on tree trunks, as an allusion to Reinaldo Arenas’s Singing from the Well, and Pilar Puentes, a Miami-based performance artist, as a possible grown-up version of the character invented by Cristina Garcia in Dreaming in Cuban. Other characters—they are cameos, really—echo Cuban writers: Farraluque, the wellendowed erotica writer, sprung from Jose Lezama Lima’s Paradiso; Rene, the chocolate- smeared cemetery caretaker is a possible twist of fate—a woeful one--for the character Virgilio Pinera created in Rene’s Flesh; Teresa Rodriguez, Alejandra’s Cuban interpreter friend, is a nod to Guillermo Cabrera Infante, author of Three Trapped Tigers. There are also brief mentions of poets: Eliseo Diego, Nicolas Guillen, Dulce Maria Loynaz, and Gaston Baquero. For me, these writers are the cream of the Cuban crop. The idea was to have a kind of discourse with the canon. The only significant writer left out, I think, is Carpentier—but that’s because he’s rather overwhelming, and I may need more time and another vehicle for him. —randomhouse.com

THE GREAT PANDEMIC A NOVEL

DAVID CORNISH MD

“1918” is a rigorously researched historical novel about the influenza pandemic that killed 100 million people…humanity’s worst natural disaster. The actual medical literature and terminology of the time are used to put the reader in the mind of an early 20th century physician.

Winner of the Independent Publishers of New England Book Award, and the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award.

Print ISBN: 9780692334805 eBook ISBN: 9780692334812

WWW.DAVIDCORNISHBOOKS.COM UNBOUND

Love them or hate them, they'll get under your skin. Five Star Reviews for this year’s Sci Fi sensation.

by GERRY BURKE These creatures are smart, inventive and very athletic and, when their intentions become obvious, even President Daphne Doolittle is at a loss. She doesn’t know what to do. This fast-moving humorous narrative pits the superior intellect of the aliens against the gritty determination of Homeland Security agent Calvin Swift and his girl-friend, the alluring Alicia Angelico. It’s tense, terrifying and totally enjoyable satire.

www.gerryburke.net

“Burke has a well-furnished mind, an ingenious intellect, and a prodigious vocabulary dedicated to making readers laugh.” Joe Kilgore (US Review)

“I was completely absorbed in the narrative, in the author’s unique, inimitable style, and the writing that conjures up powerful images in the minds of readers. I read this novel from cover to cover, and was utterly immersed in the action.” Christian Sia (Readers’ Favorite)

NEW MEXICO AUTHOR

MARK CONKLING

www.markconklingAuthor.com

“Mark Conkling has written a doggone good tale about animals and the people who love (and abuse) them. This is a nicely written novel that keeps you jumping and engages the reader in the lives of the main characters as well as the animals. It’s written with a spirituality that doesn’t beat you over the head. If you are looking for a feel good tale invest in Dog Shelter Blues.” John Crudele, Columnist for the New York Post and dog lover

“Mark Conkling offers the reader a wonderful way to explore the northern seas and those most mysterious creatures of the deep, cold waters, the whales. You will enjoy every moment of this book and come away with a newfound respect for both the researchers who spend their lives pursuing whales, and the writer whose imagination weaves a tale that is part mystery, part call to action, and part love story. “ Brent Spencer, author of Rattlesnake Daddy (2011)

A portion of the proceeds from sales goes to charities we support. Go to www.markconklingAuthor.com to find out how you can help.

Available in paperback and Kindle at

“Prairie Dog Blues ignited feelings and emotions that are always simmering on the back burner of my mind. The Corley family is like so many if not most families. Striving for perfection that will never be achieved, and going through the motions of what the perfect family should be. What appealed to me was the spiritual discussions between Mom and Pastor June, the very real and painful issues of addiction, and having to cope with the illness and loss of someone who you love deeply. Like with any good book, Prairie Dog Blues left me wondering: What’s going to happen next?” Vicky Chavez, Bibliophie

excerpts

SHELF UNBOUNDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

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READING Take a bite from your next favorite book.

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

The Other La Bohème by Yorker Keith

Overture Begin your song, oh Muses. Let me join the zesty tune. My heart needs no more sorrow, Neither discord nor despair. Induce me to embrace love, Peace, and hope in harmony. Lift, lift me up, oh Muses. Let us sing a song of joy. Act I Scene 1

uses were singing in glory in the fine October sky—the image Henry saw in the clouds as he strolled along Broadway near 72nd Street, several blocks from the Metropolitan Opera House. He even recognized the Muses’ sweet song. His chest swelled in anticipation as he continued a few blocks to the Café Momus, where his friend Stephanie was working as a waitress. The restaurant attracted a loyal clientele among connoisseurs of opera and classical music, who appreciated the authentic French cuisine at reasonable prices, especially before or

after a performance at one of the many nearby theaters. Henry paused outside the window and peered in. Since it was not yet five o’clock, patrons occupied fewer than half of the thirty-odd tables. Stephanie stood before the bar in her black uniform, casually watching the customers. Henry fished a digital pitch-maker from his pocket and found C-sharp. He cleared his throat and inhaled, assuming the role of Marcello. Then he burst through the door and began singing, extending his hand toward Stephanie. “O Musette, o gioconda sorridente!” (“Oh Musette, oh radiant smile!”) Stephanie broke into just such a smile as Henry continued his serenade in his burning tenor voice, praising her charms. His rich tones reverberated in the intimate restaurant. Stephanie immediately replied to his aria in her coloratura mezzosoprano, wagging her right index finger. “Badate! I miei difetti non

nascondo.” (“Mind you! I don’t hide my defects.”) She cautioned Marcello that she was a capricious vagrant, living day to day. When she completed her aria, both joined in a duet: Marcello, adoring her, and Musette, warning him. The music entwined to a dramatic climax with a soaring high A, then descended slowly, ending with their simultaneous murmur: “Musette!”…“Badate!” “Bravo!” Waiters and waitresses shouted their kudos while the patrons applauded. Henry bowed and Stephanie curtsied. As they rose, they met each other’s eyes and laughed. …

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IT’S ONE OF THOSE STORIES THAT GRABS HOLD ON PAGE 1 AND TAKES YOU ON A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE …. ANNE-MARIE REYNOLDS FOR READER’S FAVORITE

This is a giant whopper of a sex thriller with violence and bloodshed on most pages, along with that nymphomanical ex-antiwar activist turned assassin. If you love books like this, it’s the one is for you….. -David Wilson, VVA Veteran, 3/19/2017-

www.MarcLiebman.com

I was in no way prepared for how totally addicting this novel would be, and the sheer magnitude of the world, the characters, the multi plots, the steamy sex, and the life-and-death action... The way Marc Liebman writes is captivating from the beginning and you just want to keep reading and reading and not stop. -Darlene Cupp, GoodreadsDeeds Publishing

The story begins in the midst of action and the reader can feel the adrenaline. But it’s just the beginning and the whole story is punctuated with intense action and powerful scenes… Forgotten is a masterpiece. -Christian Sia for Readers’ Favorite-

Forgotten

by Marc Liebman www.marcliebman.com

he blacked-out sedan slid to a stop outside the storefront with the four service logos that indicated it was a U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station. The car’s passenger guessed the desk light was left on by accident by one of the recruiters when he left for the day. Despite the all black attire, a passerby would have easily identified the figure as a woman. She had a mason jar in each hand and a brick under her armpit. Each jar had a rag sticking out of the lid and was carefully put down on the cement. The woman stopped about five feet from the large picture window where the light from inside the recruiting station faded out and the shadows began. She hurled the brick underhand like a softball pitcher. The plate glass window made a satisfying crack before the shattering glass left a gaping hole. With a butane lighter, the woman lit the first mason jar and

lobbed it into the recruiting center. It shattered on one of the steel desks, spreading an exploding mixture of soap and gasoline. The second jar landed to the left of where the first one hit. By the time the woman got back in the car, the recruiting station was a blazing inferno. Fifteen minutes later, the stolen Ford Fairlane slid to a stop in a shopping mall parking lot, well away from the stores. In one practiced movement, the bomber pulled a .45 caliber pistol out of a shoulder holster and put it to the temple of the driver. Brain, blood and bone splattered the driver’s side window. Satisfied, the bomber (and now the shooter), walked across the lot to another car, a steel gray Volvo 123S with red leather seats, unlocked it, and drove away. … After her alarm went off at seven, Julia watched a breathless TV commentator’s

top of the hour story on the firebombing of a military recruiting station in Northbrook, Illinois. His report said two Marines sergeants, both Vietnam veterans, were burned to death. .... Satisfied with her night’s work, Julia Amy Lucas turned off the TV. She just turned twenty-one and this was her first act as a member of the Revolutionary Wing of the Students for A Democratic Society. What surprised her was how much she liked the killing.

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The Governess by Victoria Capper www.victoriacapper.com

ne night, Bruce walked in to the doorway of the room where Thea was curled up in a chair, quietly reading a book. She looked up. He didn’t say a word, just grinned at her and crooked his finger. Thea was puzzled, “What is it?” He just stood there for a moment just watching her, smiling all the while, then said. “Follow me.” Thea followed him into his office and there, along the window ledge outside the office was a python. It was a beautiful creature, blue and black and grey diamond pattern about as thick as your wrist and four or five feet long. Thea didn’t notice or appreciate its beauty. She just stared at it, horrified, frozen on the spot. Then she gasped and turned to Bruce and threw her arms around him and

buried her head into his chest. Bruce instinctively responded by folding his arms around her, cradling her protectively. How long they stood there wrapped in their embrace neither ever knew—a few moments— all the time in the world. She felt safe and comforted and strangely warm. Bruce, for his part wanted to deepen their engagement but he felt protective and knew he couldn’t take advantage of this wonderful woman who had turned to him for protection and care. Slowly Thea realized what she had just done and hesitantly turned to move out of his arms and looked at the window again. Bruce jolted out of his trance thought, Ooooops what had just happened here? Thea couldn’t believe she was now calmly looking at

the biggest snake she had ever seen. She’d come a long way in learning to live in the bush. Just the same she didn’t really want it to be around the house where she was living. Bruce couldn’t always be there to take her in his arms. She hoped big pythons had to be moved away for their own safety. “Yes” Bruce said, “I’ll take her straight down to the wool shed. She’ll be safe from the cats and can eat the mice down there.”

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Titus The Life Story of Dr. Titus Plomaritis by Titus Plomaritis http://amzn.to/2qljkNn

RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL (A short story on page 40)

his would be the appropriate time to relate my one bad experience related to splitting wood. It was a hot summer day and I was home alone when I decided to surprise my brothers and split a pile of wood. I was 12 years of age at that time. As I was splitting the wood at a fairly good clip, the axe apparently was getting dull and needed sharpening, but I just ignored the warning and kept chopping away. This one time the axe got stuck and I was having a difficult time separating it from the block of wood. I pulled real hard on the long handle—and it released

suddenly. Losing my balance, I fell to the ground and landed on a broken bottle. Then I noticed blood squirting out of my left upper thigh. I ran into the house and jumped into the bathtub with a bottle of peroxide and a towel. I kept pouring the peroxide on the wound until the bottle was empty, keeping the towel pressed on the wound. I then took one of my father’s neckties and tied it around my leg, ran down the stairs jumped on my bicycle and rode it to Lowell General Hospital, which was located one and a half miles from our house. I ran into someone’s office, and that someone in turn took me to the emergency room. After explaining the details

of the accident to the doctor, he cleaned up the messy necktie bandage ensemble, added a few stitches and sent me off. I don’t remember if the hospital ever sent my father a bill, if so I’m sure it was deducted from my shoe shine account, as was the necktie.

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The Way I See IT

Joseph Chan was born with two rather restrictive birth defects. One of them is a genetic eye disease known as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which is progressive with age. The other is paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD), an involuntary muscular spasm brought on by other sudden movements such as standing up from a sitting position; a condition that actually lessened after age forty. In The Way I See It, Mr. Chan talks candidly about the challenges of growing up with these two birth defects. Despite facing the fear and frustration of falling behind in school as a little child, and stigma for being different, this is a story of love, faith, and personal triumph over fate. The Way I See It is Joseph Chan’s spiritual journey to discover his life’s purpose and to share the hope and inspiration that he has found with those who might also bene t from it.

JOSEPH K. CHAN

s e . n y

THE WAY I SEE IT

f h a n t y e , l o s

“In a book filled with wisdom, one of the most remarkable lessons is the way in which the author views his physical limitations.” By Foreword Reviews

WWW.JOSEPHKCHAN.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

The Way I See It A Candid Review of Lessons From Life So Far by Joseph K. Chan

www.josephkchan.com

people to look beyond my obvious handicaps. One person who noticed my real potential was a woman I met at a workplace. We got married and had thirteen wonderful years together. She gave me understanding, encouragement, and patience. But our relationship did not last as long as I wanted; her life was cut short by breast cancer. On the surface, this is a sad story, but one big lesson I have learned from this opera is that I am the one who decides whether it is a sad story or not. If I were to let the events in my life make me a sad person, then I would lose the chance to harvest all other fruits that JOSEPH K. CHAN can be realized. My story is one of perseverance, love, and personal triumph over fate. It is from pain and suffering I learned the most valuable lessons. This process not only has led to insights about the physical aspects

of life but also has enticed me to develop my personal views of the spiritual purpose of human life, the question of God, and faith. I have learned that where I stand in these existential questions is the guiding light and sets the course for the remainder of my time on Earth.

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

THE WAY I SEE IT

“In a book filled with wisdom, one of the most remarkable lessons is the way in which the author views his physical limitations.” By Foreword Reviews

The Way I See IT

“The Way I See It will be appreciated by anyone with either retinitis pigmentosa or paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia and may offer inspiration to readers with other challenges as well.” By BlueInk Reviews In his memoir, first-time author Chan recounts a life of “perseverance, love and personal triumph over fate.” By Kirkus Reviews

, being legally blind, is now a volunteer who provides management services to non-profit organizations. He retired from the Association of Bay Area Governments after twenty-six years as CFO. Mr. Chan is a CPA and holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Now widowed, he has a daughter, a son, and three lovely grandchildren. U.S. $18.95

JOSEPH K. CHAN

was born with two rather restrictive birth defects. As soon as I was old enough to notice that I could not do some of the things other people could, I started asking why I had been given these obstacles. To have one of these defects was unfortunate; to carry the burden of two seemed very unfair. As a little child, I didn’t have an answer for myself. The family and the school system that I grew up in did not provide adequate support and guidance for children with special needs. I was only encouraged to “measure up” with my peers. That put a lot of stress on me. I worked hard to keep up, but no matter what I did, I was always below average in school, and the feeling of inferiority made me socially shy. After I graduated from college and stepped into the workplace, my low self-esteem was a stumbling block. It was difficult to convince

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Blind Spot by Laura Ellen

www.lauraellenbooks.com Revelation Winter stopped hiding Tricia Farni on Good Friday. A truck driver, anxious to shave forty minutes off his commute, ventured across the shallow section of the Birch river used as an ice bridge all winter. His truck plunged into the frigid water, and as rescuers worked to save him and his semi, Tricia’s body floated to the surface. She’d been missing since the incident in the loft six months ago. But honestly, she didn’t come to mind when I heard that a girl’s body had been found. I was that sure she was alive somewhere, making someone else’s life miserable. Maybe she was shacking up with some drug dealer, or hooking her way across the state, or whatever. But she was definitely alive. on Easter morning, that changed. The body of seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni was pulled from the Birch River Friday night. A junior

at Chance High School, Tricia disappeared October 6 after leaving a homecoming party at Birch Hill. Police believe her body has been in the water since the night she disappeared. I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. Tricia was a lot of things, a drug addict, a bitch, a freak. But dead? No. She was a survivor. Something— the only thing—I admired about her. I stared at my clock radio, disbelieving the news reporter. Ninety percent talk, AM 760 was supposed to provide refuge from my own wrecked life that weekend. I thought all those old songs with their sha-lalalas and da-doo-run-runs couldn’t possibly trigger any painful memories. I guess when a dead girl is found in Birch, Alaska, and you were the last one to see her alive, even AM 760 can’t save you from bad memories. While the rest of Chance High spent Easter Sunday shopping for bargains on

prom dresses and making meals of pink marshmallow chicks, I lay on my bed, images of Tricia flooding my brain. I tried to cling to the macabre ones—the way I imagined her when she was found: her body stiff and lifeless, her brown cloak spread like wings, her black, kohl-rimmed eyes staring up through the cracks in the ice that had been her coffin all winter. These images made me feel sad and sympathetic, how one should feel about a dead girl.

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Jake & the Dragons of Asheville by Brian Kacica

www.dragonsofasheville.com

s the Krill wound their way through the ancient passages, getting closer to the earth’s surface, the quakes grew in strength. The state-of-the-art engineering that went into building the ONX facility was no match. The titanium welds were beginning to crack at their weaker points. The first Krill to break through the lower floor of the building, stopped abruptly when he slammed his head into the ceiling of a holding cage. Three soldiers were positioned outside the massive titanium bars. The men laughed, thinking it was trapped, but their chuckles quickly turned to screams of horror when the sinister looking beast bent back the bars, skewered the men on one talon and barbecued the three to a crisp. ~ Not too far from the ONX, Jake was maneuvering

Mort and the others to a large flat area at the top of a neighboring mountain. Once he felt safe, he stepped out of the orb and walked over to Mort, who was lying in a patch of tall dry grass overlooking the forest with Asheville in the distance. The old dragon looked weak from battle, his eyes bloodshot and skin horribly scarred. Jake placed his hand on the force field, changing its energy. It wasn’t long before Mort was on his feet and speaking again. “Jake Winston—” “Mortayvious, King of the Dragons.” There was a prolonged silence between the two. Jake’s eyes watered out of joy. Mort swung his right wing around him in a protective position. The winds kicked up, blowing Jake’s hair into his face and forcing a large sneeze from Mort. The two shared a laugh, before Jake returned to the business at hand.

Spread out in the open field, the other dragons were now healed. One after the other, they nodded their heads to the king, then took flight, heading in the direction of their cave. Instinctively they knew it was time to return to a safe haven and wait out the Krill. “The sepulchral stones,” Mort said, as he handed Jake the luminous green rocks, “You will use them to return the Krill.”

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contemporary cuban fiction

“B

“Cuba has produced an author capable of understanding science fiction by writing it like it’s rock and roll. Yoss is a thoughtful author who simply seems to understand his work and science fiction better than many of us.” —Electric Literature

Super Extra Grande by Yoss translated from the Spanish by David Frye Restless Books restlessbooks.com 60

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

oss Sangan, sludge al frente and a la derecha, ten centimetros knee,” Narbuk peevishly announces through my ear buds. His voice reminds me unpleasantly of a screechy old machine in need of a lube job. But that’s not the worst of it. Worst is, he seems to go out of his way to mangle the grammar and syntax of the Spanglish language, stubbornly dropping prepositions and mutilating verbs like he’s doing a bad impression of a native in a third-rate holoseries. Regardless, the Laggoru can monitor my progress from a distance, and the radar he’s using gives him the overview of the situation that I want. The spot he’s guiding more towards flashes blue on the 3-D virtual map of the tsunami’s intestines, which I can see super-imposed on the upper-right-hand corner of my helmet’s visor. Doesn’t look promising to me, but in the lower-left-hand corner I see Narbuk’s face, looking like a hypertrophied iguana, insisting, “Boss Sangan, please mira, check. Ves now. Si the damn bracelet of the gobernador’s spoiled wife be there, us probablemente leave.” For variety’s sake, he now starts in on the complaints. “Agua here smell muy strange despues del morpheorol y el laxative. Hoy not be buen dia for el tsunami bowel cleanse.” You have to prep before you can operate. In this case, to tranquilize the “patient” before I started exploring its innards, we dissolved enough morpheorol in the water to sedate a small city for a whole week. Good thing morpheorol doesn’t really affect humans. From Super Extra Grande by Yoss, translated from the Spanish by David Frye, Restless Books, restlessbooks. com. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Two travelers uncover the legend of Prince Dracula’s treasure, but their rever the legend of Prince Dracula’s search into the Romanian past could researchawaken into the Romanian pastjust royal riches. much more than

ch more than just royal riches.

Legend claims that bloodthirsty Romanian prince Vlad “Dracula” left a treasure y Romanian prince Vlad “Dracula” left a A fifteenth-century woodcut reveals the behind after his death. A fifteenth-century gs of blue flame that rise from the ground only woodcut reveals the harbingers of this cut is also believed to harbor an evil curse that treasure: rings of blue flame that rise from d the treasure as yet uncovered. the ground only on St. George’s Eve. The ow are on woodcut holiday in Romania theirto harbor an evil is also during believed ay of the Dracula Tour through Bucharest, they curse that has kept weaker souls away and at the edge the forest. Her name is Gina Marin, theoftreasure asand yetManda uncovered. e blue flames legend. Ben decide

the help of local librarian Dinu Varmas in an easure. Ben Florand and Manda Murrow are on

holiday in Romania during their spring

o uncover history, Varmas has something else in Onpositive the second of the Dracula arch seemsbreak. to produce results, day the team uch more than a treasureBucharest, hunt. It is possible Tourjust through they come upon more thanarevealing it might bring a of the forest. young treasure; girl lying at the edge e dead.

Jacqueline Mahan

Her name is Gina Marin, and she claims bluebooks, flames e Mahan isto thehave author seen of two the children’s The of legend. d Duck and Ben The Courage of Violet Hue. Her ﬁ rst and Manda decide tonovel, abandon the ateau: Legend of the Cemetery Witch, was published in tour and enlist the help of librarian of 2011. She is an artist and educator and resides local in New York. Dinu Varmus in an effort to discover the hidden treasure.

While Ben and Manda hope to uncover history, Varmas has something else in $XX.XX mind. US Although their initial search seems to produce positive results, the team begins to realize they are on much more than just a treasure hunt. It is possible that the woodcut is capable of more than revealing treasure; it might bring a longdead prince back from the dead.

“It must be challengingMahan to come up with Jacqueline a Author new twist the Dracula story.ofMs. of The on Courtyard Duck, The Courage VioletMahan Hue, and Ezrah’s Plateau: Legend of the Cemetery Witch has done it…a pleasant surprise from a generous talent.” “This plot was different from any other I have read…original…” “I would recommend it as a vacation book and, of course, to anyone who loves to read about Vlad Tepes…”

www.jacquelinemahan.com @AuthrJacqueline

JACQUELINE MAHAN

Author of The Courtyard Duck, The Courage of Violet Hue, and Ezrah’s Plateau: Legend of the Cemetery Witch UNBOUND

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contemporary cuban fiction

“As Cuba’s greatest living writer and one who is inching toward the pantheon occupied by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, Padura may well now be untouchable.” —The Washington Post

Heretics

by Leonardo Padura translated from the Spanish by Anna Kushner Farrar, Straus and Giroux fsgbooks.com 62

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

t would take Daniel Kaminsky many years to grow accustomed to the exuberant sounds of a city built on the most unwieldy commotion. He had quickly discovered that everything there began and ended with yelling, everything sputtered with rust and humidity, cars moved forward amid the wheezing and banging of engines or the long beeping of horns, dogs barked with and without reason and roosters even crowed at midnight, while each vendor made himself known with a toot, a bell, a trumpet, a whistle, a rattle, a flageolet, a melody in perfect pitch, or, simply, a shriek. He had run aground in a city in which, on top of it all, each night, at nine on the dot, cannon fire roared without any declaration of war or city gates to close, and where, in good times and bad, you always, always heard music, and not just that, singing. At the beginning of his Havana life, the boy would often try to evoke, as much as his scarcely-filled-with-memories mind would allow, the thick silences of the Jewish bourgeois neighborhood in Krakow where he had been born and lived his early days. He pursued that cold, rose-colored land of the past intuitively from the depths of his rootlessness; but when his memories, real or imagined, touched down on the firm ground of reality, he immediately reacted and tried to escape it. In the dark, silent Krakow of his infancy, too much noise could mean only two things: it was either market day or there was some imminent danger. In the final years of his Polish existence, danger grew to be more common than merchants. So fear became a constant companion. From Heretics by Leonardo Padura, translated from the Spanish by Anna Kushner, Farrar Straus and Giroux, fsgbooks.com. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

From Bestselling Author

MICHELE PARIZA WACEK

As a child, Kit’s twin sister Cat disappeared, never to be heard from again. Until one dark, twisted Halloween night. But is it really Cat? Or is it someone else playing a sinister and deadly game? “Well-written and gripping from beginning to end, The Stolen Twin is a must read mystery.” —US Review of Books

It’s taken six months, but Linda has finally gotten her life back together after her sister, Elizabeth, killed herself. Or has she? There’s a killer on the loose—a killer who resembles Elizabeth. But, it can’t be her. Could it? “Best psychological thriller since Gone Girl.” —Confessions of the Perfect Mom

www.MicheleParizaWacek.com UNBOUND

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contemporary cuban fiction

“Fernandez might most fittingly be described as a literary guardian of Cuba, a collector of her island’s own stories of loss and longing and, also, of love.” —L.A. Review of Books

A Corner of the World by Mylene Fernandez-Pintado translated from the Spanish by Dick Cluster City Lights citylights.com 64

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

he mechanic poked his head out from under the car to berate me for being stupid, for letting myself get taken by the mechanic before him, who had also berated me for falling into the trap of the one before that. As always in such situations, I had two choices. One was to wholeheartedly agree, which would provoke a dialogue. The other was to adopt the shamefaced expression befitting a victim of countless members of the guild. That would lead to a monologue. My mother’s death had made me the sole heir of a car that, while inadequate by international standards, was satisfactory by our local ones. We are not very demanding in the matter of cars. My “brandnew” 1970 Moskvich was a treasure on wheels. “Are you a writer?” the mechanic asked. To mechanics, writers are people with clean hands and lots of money. To writers, mechanics are people with dirty hands and lots of money. My mother didn’t leave me any money, but she did leave some things of value: an upright piano and lots of sheet music. Her music. All I can do with the instrument is to put my hands on the keys and have them respond without much conviction. Still, out of all the objects she left that cluster indifferently around me, that piano feels the most my own. I also inherited a porcelain table setting, silverware that’s truly silver, and linen tablecloths. Also glassware of all sizes and sorts. Endless treasure that have no means of locomotion. We take care of them all our lives, and they almost always survive us. Also she left me a gaping void of loneliness, at the age of thirty-seven.

From A Corner of the World by Mylene Fernandez-

Award-Winning Historical YA

Five young ladies thrust into Napoleon’s treacherous world of spies, diplomacy, love and war. “I enjoyed this story immensely and I closed my kindle with a satisfied sigh.” —YA Insider.com “Baldwin has a winning series here: her characters are intriguing and fully rendered.” —Booklist

UNBOUND

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contemporary cuban fiction

“A novelist, essayist and short-story writer, Benítez-Rojo was widely regarded as the most significant Cuban author of his generation.” —Amherst College

Woman in Battle Dress by Antonio Benitez-Rojo translated by Jessica Powell City Lights citylights.com 66

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

nd so, in three days you’ll disembark in New Orleans. Four, at the most, if the wind fails. As hard as you try to take heart, you can see no reason that you should be any better received there than you were in Cuba. What they know of you in New Orleans is nothing but secondhand gossip spread by travelers from Havana; rumors repeated by sailors and merchants who, hoping to amaze their listeners, turn every drizzle into a downpour, every chicken’s death into a horrifying murder. God only knows what abominations they are telling about you there! If there’s one thing you’re sure of, it’s that the dock will be full of gawkers hurling insults. Some will even spit at you. There’ll be the usual hailstorm of eggs and rotten vegetables. There will even be those who’ll try to pinch your backside or claw at your face. Master and slave, lawyer, barber, shoemaker and tailor, each and every one of them will heap their own guilt and resentments onto you. The saddest part of all is that there are bound to be some good women among the crowd, women who’ll condemn you without even knowing why. Their minds constricted by ignorance and prejudice, they’ll see you only as an indecent foreigner a degenerate; never a friend. How well you know their accusatory cries. They have dogged you from one end of Cuba to the other, from Santiago all the way to Havana. The only difference is that this time they’ll humiliate you in English, and even in French, your own mother tongue. What you fear most, what you’ve begun to obsess over, is that moment when you’ll step off the boat – your first steps onto the dock, exposed to all those stares, those hungry eyes fixed upon you, wishing to strip you bare.

From Woman in Battle Dress by Antonio Benitez-Ro-

“A very enjoyable book with a fast pace and no dull moments.” —Sefina Hawke, Readers Favorite

“An especially skilled author.” —Midwest Review of Books

ADAM ALEXANDER The Saviors appeared in the sky on Judgment Day and created the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth—by force. Under the Saviors’ forbidding guidance, no one starves and no one dies of disease and angels keep the peace. But when 16-year old Yasmeen Robertson fishes a drowning boy out of the Chicago River, peace is the last thing she finds. Yaz and the boy have stumbled upon a yatsa drev, a piece of Savior-tech that makes them the subject of unwanted—and deadly—attention. Demons, whose hatred of the Saviors knows no bounds, are determined to have it for themselves. The Saviors, who have dispatched an archangel for the purpose, are determined to have it back. Neither are known for their mercy or understanding. If Yaz and the boy surrender to the archangel, they run the risk of being executed. If they throw their lot in with demons, there’s a good chance of being murdered. On the run, they struggle to unravel the yatsa drev’s mysteries. But Yaz has another problem: whether to trust the boy, whose uncle is the archangel pursuing them. U N B O U N D 67 Distributed by DartFrog books. Available only at good independent bookstores and www.dartfrogbooks.com/alexander

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contemporary cuban fiction

Nowhere Man by Miguel Mejides here are people who need to go against the grain but I’m not going against anything. Perhaps everything stems from the great handicap which life has given me: I’m cross-eyed. Ever since I’ve been able to reason, since the first time I was able to contemplate my image in a mirror and saw my own eyes, I told myself I was a man meant for silence, for meditation, a man made to work at smiling, fated to take long walks through the city I choose for my solitude. My mother, thank God, always knew about the shadow of the silent songbird that surrounded me. Likewise, she understood my decision to leave my hometown to go to Havana and find work. I’ve never been able to forget her, bidding me farewell at the train station with her linen handkerchief waving between the smoke and her saintly smile, which never left her, not even in death. Even though it’s rained a lot these years, until very recently I could still give myself the pleasure of contemplating Havana through the same lens as when I first glimpsed it in January 1990. Back then, Havana still retained that halo of light and mystery. My bus came in on the old central highway, continued past Virgen del Camino, and straight through the disastrous streets of Luyano. At the end of my journey, I was awed by the statue of Marti in the Plaza de la Revolucion and the sparkling Ferris wheel in the amusement park in front of the bus terminal. I’ll never forget the taxi that took me to Infanta 234; it was a mandarin-colored De Soto, with the coat-of-arms from an ancient Spanish province affixed with the number 13. The driver was a little old man with an Andalusian accent and a multicolored hat. “That’s the place.” I remember the stains on his teeth that flashed when he talked. As I paid him, he betrayed a certain anxiety about my eyes. “Buddy, buy yourself some dark glasses,” he told me.

“Miguel Mejides is a Cuban novelist and storyteller who has been recognized as a major voice in Cuban literature.” —Brown University

Havana Noir

edited by Achy Obejas Akashic Books akashicbooks.com 68

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

THE LAST TRAIN

“An unrelenting portrayal of a strong female character driven to dark deeds in a foreign land— and the heart-pounding search to find her.” Publishers Daily Reviews

Tokyo—a great place to live, a frightening place to die Detective Hiroshi Shimizu investigates white collar crime in Tokyo. When an American businessman turns up dead, he’s called out to the site of a grisly murder—or is it just suicide? A slip or jump off the train platform? A security camera video suggests the killer was a woman, but in Japan, that seems unlikely. Hiroshi and ex-sumo wrestler-turned-detective Sakaguchi scour Tokyo’s sacred temples, skyscraper offices and industrial wastelands to find out what was in the past of one Tokyo woman that drove her to murder.

“An absorbing investigation and memorable backdrop put this series launch on the right track.” Kirkus Reviews “For anyone who loves crime and cop novels, or Japanophiles in general, this is a terrific thriller. Fans of Barry Eisler’s early novels will find the same satisfactions here.” BlueInk Starred Review

WWW.MICHAELPRONKO.COM

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SCIENCE FICTION

RADU GHERGHEL’S

MUTANT, I AM, MY SON WAS THE FIRST Brad’s swim coach at Washington High School has high hopes for his athlete. Exceptionally skilled in the water, Brad is expected to excel and win many competitions. But during a race, the high schooler collapses. He’s diagnosed with an incurable disease that prevents him from ever swimming again, and his doctor doesn’t expect him to survive more than five years. To save his life, he undergoes a difficult and unique operation that changes him into a mutant, which allows him to live underwater. Alone at the beginning, then with his wife, Ada, they start a new species called the Gill generation. Many others follow, creating the Water World. It’s first controlled by the individual countries that made them, and shortly after it becomes independent. This new society evolves beyond expectations, demanding rights from terrestrials through a revolution. The Gills succeed in controlling the entire planet utilizing advanced technology. With the continuous unrest and wars on land, many repatriates to Water World. The existence and future of humanity relies on the new species, the Gill civilization. About the Author Radu Olimpiu Gherghel an engineer, is a native of Timisoara, Romania, who immigrated to the United States in 1967. He and his wife, Judy, have two children and six grandchildren. They live in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. This is his third book.

Available at

The story is about Digit, the Robot dog, who helps to stop bullying at the Zipper Elementary School. Digit is a special dog because he teaches children not to bully each other in school. Digit carries a red toolbox kit that teaches children about positive behavior, positive role models, positive rules, being kind to one another, being helpful to each other, and teaches children how to deal with problems about bullying in school. Digit teaches the children how to be friendly, to share, to say please and thank you but most of all he teaches them to have positive behavior. Digit says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bullying Hurts! It hurts us all. Stop Bullying now!

From Author Carolee Russell

A bit of tongue-in-cheek humor adds a bit of lightness to this murder mystery story. The second half of the book provides the information and instructions needed to perform this story in an ad lib play format in the privacy of your home with your friends. There are many characters for a greater number of participants to experience stepping into a different persona if only for an intriguing evening of murder… just for fun. WWW.RUSSELLRIGINALS.COM

“A Wish for Algie” is about a fish named Algie who seemingly has a perfect life but believes he would be much happier as a bird. His wish is fulfilled, but the consequences of trying to adapting to such a different life makes Algie realize he has made a mistake in leaving the good life he had as a fish and now he regrets having wished at all. With the guidance of a wise owl who befriended him, Algie regains his life as a fish with greater appreciation of that life.

This book was written for my niece, Gail, from a fragmented two page story she had written and wanted so much to see it in print. The yolk of the story is hers but I have created the rest of the egg, so to speak. It is about a Christian family who, with other families of similar values, broke from a wagon train headed west and settled in a secluded canyon to set up their farms and raise their families dedicated to the Lord. A severe two-year drought tests their faith and devotion. One young, physically challenged little girl (much like Gail is physically challenged) takes on God personally, resulting in God’s blessings for all. With faith and love, anything is possible.

feature

translations

Best Translated Book Awards The blog Three Percent’s annual Best Translated Book Awards spotlights best original works published in the U.S. in the previous year. Here’s a look at the 2017 fiction finalists.

The Queue

by Basma Abdel Aziz translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette (Egypt, Melville House)

“In an unnamed Middle Eastern city, a centralized authority known as the Gate has risen to power in the aftermath of the “Disgraceful Events,” a failed popular uprising. Citizens are required to obtain permission from the Gate for even the most basic of their daily affairs, yet the building never opens, and the queue in front of it grows longer and longer. Citizens from all walks of life wait in the sun: a revolutionary journalist, a sheikh, the cousin of a security officer killed in the clashes with protestors, and a man with injuries The Gate would prefer to keep quiet. A very real vision of life after the Arab Spring written with dark, subtle intelligence, The Queue describes the sinister nature of authoritarianism, and illuminates the way that absolute authority manipulates information, mobilizes others in service to it, and fails to uphold the rights of even those faithful to it.” —mhpbooks.com 74

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Wicked Weeds

by Pedro Cabiya translated from the Spanish by Jessica Powell (Dominican Republic, Mandel Vilar Press)

The Young Bride

by Alessandro Baricco translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein (Italy, Europa Editions)

“From international bestselling author, Alessandro Baricco, comes a scintillating and sensual novel about a young woman’s ingress into a fantastically strange family. The hand of the young woman in question has been promised to the scion of a noble family. She is to make her preparations for marriage at the family’s villa, where the inhabitants never seem to sleep. The atmosphere turns surreal as the days pass and her presence on the family estate begins to make itself felt on her future in-laws. In this erotically charged and magical novel, Alessandro Baricco portrays a cast of mysterious characters who exist outside of the rules of causation as he tells a story, an adult fable, about fate and the difficult job of confronting the Other and creating an Us.” —penguinrandomhouse.com

“A Caribbean zombie, smart, gentlemanly, financially independent and a top executive in an important pharmaceutical company, becomes obsessed with finding the formula that would reverse his condition and allow him to become ‘a real person.’ In the process, three of his closest collaborators (cerebral and calculating Isadore, wide-eyed and sentimental Mathilde, and rambunctious Patricia), guide the reluctant and baffled scientist through the unpredictable intersections of love, passion, empathy, and humanity. But the playful maze of jealousy and amorous intrigue that a living being would find easy and fun to negotiate, represents an insurmountable tangle of obscure intentions and dangerous ambiguities for our ‘undead’ protagonist. Wicked Weeds is put together from Isadore’s ‘scrapbook,’ where she has collected her boss’s scientific goals and existential agony; her own reflections about growing up a Haitian descendant in the Dominican Republic and what it really means to be human; police reports; field journal entries; her greataunt Sandrine’s heart-rending journey from rural Haiti to urban Dominican Republic as a restavek; and a wealth of oral lore.” —mvpress.org UNBOUND

A Spare Life by Lidija Dimkovska translated from the Macedonian by Christina Kramer (Macedonia, Two Lines Press)

“A coming-of-age saga of two sisters, with an incredible twist… It is 1984, and twelve-year-old twins Zlata and Srebra live in communist Yugoslavia. In many ways their lives are like that of young girls anywhere, except for one immense difference: Zlata’s and Srebra’s bodies are conjoined at their heads. A Spare Life tells the story of their emergence from girls to young adults, from their desperately poor, provincial childhoods to their determination to become successful, independent women. After years of discovery and friendship, their lives are thrown into crisis when an incident threatens to destroy their bond as sisters. They fly to London, determined to be surgically separated— but will this dangerous procedure free them, or only more tightly ensnare them? In A Spare Life master poet and award-winning novelist Lidija Dimkovska lovingly tells the lives of two astonishing girls caught up in Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to democracy. A saga about families, sisterhood, and being outcasts, A Spare Life reveals an existence where even the simplest of actions is unlike any we’ve ever experienced.” —catranslation.org 76

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

On the Edge

by Rafael Chirbes translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain, New Directions)

“On the Edge opens in a swamp on the outskirts of Olba, Spain, a town wracked by despair after the economic bubble bursts. Stuck in this corrupt, defeated town is Esteban—his small factory bankrupt and his investments stolen by a ‘friend.’ Much of the novel unfolds in Esteban’s raw and tormented monologues. But other voices resound from the wreckage—soloists stepping forth from the choir with their own terse, hypnotic rants about debt, prostitution, and ruin. However, now and again, with his own majestic authorial voice, Chirbes interrupts the chorus, allowing a lyrical note to usher in profound if uncertain hopes. On the Edge, as Valerie Miles writes in her afterword, ‘is masterful, a centrifugal novel with sentences like sticky tentacles that clutch onto readers and suck them into a swirling, tempestuous, pulsating center.’” —ndbooks.com

Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi translated from the French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Mauritius, Deep Vellum)

“With brutal honesty and poetic urgency, Ananda Devi relates the tale of four young Mauritians trapped in their country’s endless cycle of fear and violence: Eve, whose body is her only weapon and source of power; Savita, Eve’s best friend, the only one who loves Eve without self-interest, who has plans to leave but will not go alone; Saadiq, gifted would-be poet, inspired by Rimbaud, in love with Eve; Clélio, belligerent rebel, waiting without hope for his brother to send for him from France. Eve Out of Her Ruins is a heartbreaking look at the dark corners of the island nation of Mauritius that tourists never see, and a poignant exploration of the construction of personhood at the margins of society. Awarded the prestigious Prix des cinq continents upon publication as the best book written in French outside of France, Eve Out of Her Ruins is a harrowing account of the violent reality of life in her native country by the figurehead of Mauritian literature.” —deepvellum.org

Zama

by Antonio di Benedetto translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen (Argentina, New York Review Books)

“First published in 1956, Zama is now universally recognized as one of the masterpieces of modern Argentinean and Spanish-language literature. Written in a style that is both precise and sumptuous, Zama takes place in the last decade of the eighteenth century and describes the solitary, suspended existence of Don Diego de Zama, a highly placed servant of the Spanish crown who has been posted to Asunción, the capital of remote Paraguay. Eaten up by pride, lust, petty grudges, and paranoid fantasies, Don Diego does as little as he possibly can while plotting an eventual transfer to Buenos Aires, where everything about his hopeless existence will, he is confident, be miraculously transformed and made good. Don Diego’s slow, nightmarish slide into the abyss is not just a tale of one man’s perdition but an exploration of existential, and very American, loneliness. Zama’s stark, dreamlike prose and spare imagery make every word appear to emerge from an ocean of things left unsaid.” —nyrb.com UNBOUND

Doomi Golo

by Boubacar Boris Diop translated from the Wolof by Vera Wülfing-Leckie and El Hadji Moustapha Diop (Senegal, Michigan State University Press)

Vampire in Love

by Enrique Vila-Matas translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain, New Directions)

“Gathered for the first time in English, and spanning the author’s entire career, Vampire in Love offers a selection of the Spanish master Enrique Vila Matas’s finest short stories. An effeminate, hunchbacked barber on the verge of death falls in love with a choirboy. A fledgling writer on barbiturates visits Marguerite Duras’s Paris apartment and watches his dinner companion slip into the abyss. An unsuspecting man receives a mysterious phone call from a lonely ophthalmologist, visits his abandoned villa, and is privy to a secret. The stories in Vampire in Love, selected and brilliantly translated by the renowned translator Margaret Jull Costa, are all told with Vila-Matas’s signature erudition and wit and his provocative questioning of the interrelation of art and life.” —ndbooks.com 78

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

“The first novel to be translated from Wolof to English, Doomi Golo—The Hidden Notebooks is a masterful work that conveys the story of Nguirane Faye and his attempts to communicate with his grandson before he dies. With a narrative structure that beautifully imitates the movements of a musical piece, Diop relates Faye’s trauma of losing his only son, Assane Tall, which is compounded by his grandson Badou’s migration to an unknown destination. While Faye feels certain that his grandson will return one day, he also is convinced that he will no longer be alive by then. Faye spends his days sitting under a mango tree in the courtyard of his home, reminiscing and observing his surroundings. He speaks to Badou through his seven notebooks, six of which are revealed to the reader, while the seventh, the “Book of Secrets,” is highly confidential and reserved for Badou’s eyes only. In the absence of letters from Badou, the notebooks form the only possible means of communication between the two, carrying within them tunes and repetitions that give this novel its unusual shape: loose and meandering on the one hand, coherent and tightly interwoven on the other.” —msupress.org

Night Prayers

by Santiago Gamboa translated from the Spanish by Howard Curtis (Colombia, Europa Editions)

‘A thrilling literary novel about crime and corruption in Latin America told in alternating voices and perspectives, Night Prayers is the story of Manuel, a Colombian philosophy student arrested in Bangkok and accused of drug trafficking. Unless he enters a guilty plea he will almost certainly be sentenced to death. But it is not his own death that weighs most heavily on him but a tender longing for his sister, Juana, whom he hasn’t seen for years. Before he dies he wants nothing more than to be reunited with her. Fans of both Roberto Bolaño and Gabriel García Márquez will find much to admire in this story about the mean streets of Bogotá, the sordid bordellos of Thailand, and a love between siblings that knows no end. Juana and Manuel’s story reaches the ears of the Colombian counsel general in New Delhi, and he tracks down Juana, now married to a rich Japanese man, in Tokyo. The counsel general takes it upon himself to reunite the two siblings—a feat that may be beyond his power.” —penguinrandomhouse.com

Angel of Oblivion

by Maja Haderlap translated from the German by Tess Lewis (Austria, Archipelago Books)

“Angel of Oblivion is based on the experiences of Maja Haderlap’s family and the Slovenian-speaking minority in southern Austria, many of whom fought as partisans against the Nazis during the Second World War. The story centers on the experiences of a young girl learning to navigate the terrain between two hostile communities and two extremely burdened languages: Slovenian, a language of heroic resistance and continued humiliation, and German, an escape from her stifling rural upbringing but also the language of the camps which her grandmother barely survived and many other family members didn’t. Engaging with themes of tolerance and integration of minority communities, the burden of history, the effects of conflicts on survivors and their children, and language’s role in shaping identity, Haderlap’s novel strikes at problems of paramount importance to our world today.” —archipelagobooks.org UNBOUND

Umami War and Turpentine

by Stefan Hertmans translated from the Dutch by David McKay (Belgium, Pantheon)

“The life of Urbain Martien—artist, soldier, survivor of World War I— lies contained in two notebooks he left behind when he died in 1981. In War and Turpentine, his grandson, a writer, retells his grandfather’s story, the notebooks providing a key to the locked chambers of Urbain’s memory. With vivid detail, the grandson recounts a whole life: Urbain as the child of a lowly church painter, retouching his father’s work; dodging death in a foundry; fighting in the war that altered the course of history; marrying the sister of the woman he truly loved; being haunted by an ever-present reminder of the artist he had hoped to be and the soldier he was forced to become. Wrestling with this tale, the grandson straddles past and present, searching for a way to understand his own part in both. As artfully rendered as a Renaissance fresco, War and Turpentine paints an extraordinary portrait of one man’s life and reveals how that life echoed down through the generations.” —penguinrandomhouse.com 80

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

by Laia Jufresa translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes (Mexico, Oneworld)

“It started with a drowning. Deep in the heart of Mexico City, where five houses cluster around a sun-drenched courtyard, lives Ana, a precocious twelveyear-old still coming to terms with the mysterious death of her little sister years earlier. Over the rainy, smoggy summer she decides to plant a vegetable garden in the courtyard, and as she digs the ground and plants her seeds, her neighbors in turn delve into their past. As the ripple effects of grief, childlessness, illness and displacement saturate their stories, secrets seep out and questions emerge—Who was my wife? Why did my mom leave? Can I turn back the clock? And how could a girl who knew how to swim drown? Using five voices to tell the singular story of life in an inner city mews, Umami is a quietly devastating novel of missed encounters, missed opportunities, missed people, and those who are left behind. Compassionate, surprising, funny and inventive, it deftly unpicks their stories to offer a darkly comic portrait of contemporary Mexico, as whimsical as it is heart-wrenching.” —oneworld-publications.com

Ladivine

by Marie NDiaye translated from the French by Jordan Stump (France, Knopf)

“On the first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter and secretly takes the train to Bordeaux to visit her mother, Ladivine. Just as Clarisse’s husband and daughter know nothing of Ladivine, Clarisse herself has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, whom she dreads and despises but also pities. Long ago abandoned by Clarisse’s father, Ladivine works as a housecleaner and has no one but her daughter, whom she knows as Malinka. After more than twenty-five years of this deception, the idyllic middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she’s put up to protect it. Her untold anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in. When her husband, Richard, finally leaves her, Clarisse finds comfort in the embrace of a volatile local man, Freddy Moliger. With Freddy, she finally feels reconciled to, or at least at ease with, her true self. But this peace comes at a terrible price. Clarisse will be brutally murdered, and it will be left to her now-grown daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine without knowing why, to work out who her mother was and what happened to her.” —penguinrandomhouse.com

Among Strange Victims

by Daniel Saldaña París translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico, Coffee House Press)

“Rodrigo likes his vacant lot, its resident chicken, and being left alone. But when passivity finds him accidentally married to Cecilia, he trades Mexico City for the sun-bleached desolation of his hometown and domestic life with Cecilia for the debauched company of a poet, a philosopher, and Micaela, whose allure includes the promise of time travel. Earthy, playful, and sly, Among Strange Victims is a psychedelic ode to the pleasures of not measuring up. Daniel Saldaña París (born Mexico City, 1984) is an essayist, poet, and novelist whose work has been translated into English, French, and Swedish and anthologized, most recently in Mexico20: New Voices, Old Traditions, published in the United Kingdom by Pushkin Press. Among Strange Victims is his first novel to appear in the United States. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.” —coffeehousepress.org UNBOUND

Super Extra Grande by Yoss translated from the Spanish by David Frye (Cuba, Restless Books)

The Last Wolf and Herman

by László Krasznahorkai translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes and John Batki (Hungary, New Directions)

“The Last Wolf features a classic, obsessed Krasznahorkai narrator, a man hired to write (by mistake, by a glitch of fate) the true tale of the last wolf of Extremadura, a barren stretch of Spain. This miserable experience (being mistaken for another, dragged about a cold foreign place, appalled by a species’ end) is narrated—all in a single sentence—as a sad looping tale, a howl more or less, in a dreary wintry Berlin bar to a patently bored bartender. Herman, ‘a peerless virtuoso of trapping who guards the splendid mysteries of an ancient craft gradually sinking into permanent oblivion,’ is asked to clear a forest’s last ‘noxious beasts. In Herman I: The Game Warden, he begins with great zeal, although in time he ‘suspects that maybe he was ‘on the wrong scent.’ Herman switches sides, deciding to track entirely new game ... —ndbooks.com 82

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

“With the playfulness and ingenuity of Douglas Adams, the Cuban sciencefiction master Yoss delivers a space opera of intergalactic proportions with Super Extra Grande, the winner of the twentieth annual UPC Science Fiction Award in 2011. In a distant future in which Latin Americans have pioneered faster-thanlight space travel, Dr. Jan Amos Sangan Dongo has a job with large and unusual responsibilities: he’s a veterinarian who specializes in treating enormous alien animals. Mountain-sized amoebas, multisex species with bizarre reproductive processes, razor-nailed, carnivorous humanoid hunters: Dr. Sangan has seen it all. When a colonial conflict threatens the fragile peace between the galaxy’s seven intelligent species, he must embark on a daring mission through the insides of a gigantic creature and find two swallowed ambassadors—who also happen to be his competing love interests. Funny, witty, raunchy, and irrepressibly vivacious, Super Extra Grande is a rare specimen in the richly parodic tradition of Cuban science fiction, and could only have been written by a Cuban heavy-metal rock star with a biology degree: the inimitable Yoss.” —restlessbooks.com

Thus Bad Begins

by Javier Marías translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (Spain, Knopf)

“Madrid, 1980. Juan de Vere, nearly finished with his university degree, takes a job as personal assistant to Eduardo Muriel, an eccentric, once-successful film director. Urbane, discreet, irreproachable, Muriel is an irresistible idol to the young man. But Muriel’s voluptuous wife, Beatriz, inhabits their home like an unwanted ghost; and on the periphery of their lives is Dr. Jorge Van Vechten, a family friend implicated in unsavory rumors that Muriel now asks Juan to investigate. As Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers only more questions. What is at the root of Muriel’s hostility toward his wife? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? What happened during the war? Marías leads us deep into the intrigues of these characters, through a daring exploration of rancor, suspicion, loyalty, trust, and the infinitely permeable boundaries between the deceptions perpetrated on us by others and those we inflict upon ourselves.” —penguinrandomhouse.com

In the Café of Lost Youth by Patrick Modiano translated from the French by Chris Clarke (France, New York Review Books)

“In the Café of Lost Youth is vintage Patrick Modiano, an absorbing evocation of a particular Paris of the 1950s, shadowy and shady, a secret world of writers, criminals, drinkers, and drifters. The novel, inspired in part by the circle (depicted in the photographs of Ed van der Elsken) of the notorious and charismatic Guy Debord, centers on the enigmatic, waiflike figure of Louki, who catches everyone’s attention even as she eludes possession or comprehension. Through the eyes of four very different narrators, including Louki herself, we contemplate her character and her fate, while Modiano explores the themes of identity, memory, time, and forgetting that are at the heart of his spellbinding and deeply moving art.” —nyrb.com UNBOUND

Moonstone

by Sjón translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (Iceland, FSG)

“The mind-bending miniature historical epic is Sjón’s specialty, and Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was is no exception. But it is also Sjón’s most realistic, accessible, and heartfelt work yet. It is the story of a young man on the fringes of a society that is itself at the fringes of the world—at what seems like history’s most tumultuous, perhaps ultimate moment. Máni Steinn is queer in a society in which the idea of homosexuality is beyond the furthest extreme. His city, Reykjavik in 1918, is homogeneous and isolated and seems entirely defenseless against the Spanish flu, which has already torn through Europe, Asia, and North America and is now lapping up on Iceland’s shores. And if the flu doesn’t do it, there’s always the threat that war will spread all the way north. And yet the outside world has also brought Icelanders cinema! And there’s nothing like a dark, silent room with a film from Europe flickering on the screen to help you escape from the overwhelming threats—and adventures—of the night, to transport you, to make you feel like everything is going to be all right. For Máni Steinn, the question is whether, at Reykjavik’s darkest hour, he should retreat all the way into this imaginary world, or if he should engage with the society that has so soundly rejected him.” —us.macmillan.com 84

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (Japan, New Directions)

“Memoirs of a Polar Bear stars three generations of talented writers and performers. Famous stars of the literary world, the circus, and the zoo, they happen to be polar bears who move human society. In part one, the matriarch, enjoying “the intimacy of being alone with my pen,” accidentally writes a bestselling autobiography in the Soviet Union. In part two, her daughter Tosca moves to East Germany and pioneers a thrilling circus act. And Tosca’s son—the last of their line—is Knut, born in part three and raised by a human keeper in relatively happy circumstances in the Berlin zoo.” —ndbooks.com

DISCOVERIES

If you like these five books, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sure to like...

Jake & The Dragons of Asheville by Brian Kacica www.dragonofasheville.com

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Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lúcio Cardoso translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson (Brazil, Open Letter Books)

Long considered one of the most important works of twentieth-century Brazilian literature, Chronicle of the Murdered House is finally available in English. Set in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the novel relates the dissolution of a once proud patriarchal family that blames its ruin on the youngest son Valdo’s marriage to Nina—a vibrant, unpredictable, and incendiary young woman whose very existence seems to depend on the destruction of the household. This family’s downfall, peppered by stories of decadence, adultery, incest, and madness, is related through a variety of narrative devices, including letters, diaries, memoirs, statements, confessions, and accounts penned by the various characters. Salacious, literary, and introspective, Cardoso’s masterpiece marked a turning away from the social realism fashionable in 1930s Brazilian literature and had a huge impact on the writing of Cardoso’s life-long friend and greatest admirer— Clarice Lispector.” —openletterbooks.org 86

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

My Marriage

by Jakob Wassermann translated from the German by Michael Hofmann (Germany, New York Review Books)

“Alexander Herzog, a young writer, goes to Vienna to escape his debts and a failed love affair. There he is pursued by book-loving Ganna: giddy, girlish, clumsy, eccentric, and wild. Dazzled and unnerved by her devotion to him, and attracted to the large dowry offered by her wealthy father, he thinks he can mold Ganna into what he wants. But no one can control her troubling passions. As their marriage starts to self-destruct, Herzog will discover that he can never escape her. Posthumously published in 1934 and based on Jakob Wassermann’s own ruinous marriage, My Marriage is a tragic masterpiece that unfolds in shocking detail. This story of rare intensity and drama is now brought to English readers in a powerful translation by Michael Hofmann.” —nyrb.com

WHAT TO

“It’s difficult to believe it happens, but forced guardianship fraud runs unchecked throughout international probate courts. Deemed incapacitated by the courts, elderly citizens are robbed of all decision-making rights and assigned professional guardians whose only interest lies in profiting from their vulnerable charges’ estates.” —The Washington Examiner

READ NEXT

The Seventh Treasure An International Thriller by Len Camarda

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young American woman dies in a tragic roadway accident in the mountains outside of the city of Granada, Spain. Her brother, who heads up a training unit of the US Secret Service, travels to Spain to bring her body back to America. There, and in the company of a female lieutenant of Spain’s National Police Force, it is discovered there was foul play associated with his sister’s Gina’s death. Soon, the consequences of this incident generate a cascade of mysterious murders that confound local authorities and shut down all leads as to why Gina Cerone was killed. After a thirty year career in the Secret Service, Gene Cerone retires so that he can participate

Reviews: “Set in modern-day Spain and painted with layers of history and forgotten lore, this novel combines Tom Clancy’s knack for political suspense with Dan Brown’s love of secret societies.” —The Clarion Review “…some might see echoes of Dan Brown in its fictionalization of history based on a few truths. But this novel is awash with the rich culture and vibrancy of the Iberian Peninsula. Camarda has obviously done his research and his travels in the region lend credence to the book’s fertile setting and story. Readers who appreciate a complex plot and engaging historical fantasy will find much room to roam in The Seventh Treasure.” —BlueInk Review “If you like historical thrillers or are just looking for a good read, I suggest Len Camarda’s The Seventh Treasure—and of course, a trip to Spain.” —ByLanderSea Book Review Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and local book stores. UNBOUND

All royalties donated to The Wounded Warrior's Project and the Hilton Head Humane Association.

The Seventh Treasure by Len Camarda

his thriller follows the exploits of Secret Service agent Gene Cerone, who travels to Spain to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his sister's death. Teaming up with Lieutenant Mercedes Garcia of the National Police Force, their investigation unwittingly uncovers an unfathomable conspiracy that dates back to the time the Moors surrendered their kingdom in Granada in 1492.

www.lencamarda.com

Available as e-book, soft and hard cover at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and AuthorHouse.

ANNOUNCING

COMPETITION

for Best Indie/Self-Published Books.

Any independently published book in any genre is eligible for entry. Entry fee is $75 per book. The winning entry will be selected by the editors of Shelf Unbound magazine. The author of the book named as the Best Independently Published book will receive $500 and editorial coverage in the April/May 2018 issue of Shelf Unbound. Five finalists will receive editorial coverage in the February/March 2018 issue of Shelf Unbound. More than 100 books deemed by the editors as “notable” entries in the competition will also be featured in the April/May 2018 issue of Shelf Unbound. The winner of the Pete Delohery Award for Best Sports Book will receive $1,000.

THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRY IS MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 31, 2017. DETAILS AND RULES CAN BE FOUND HERE

BOOK SHELF The Vampire Girl Next Door by Richard Arbib

The Vampire Girl in London by Richard Arbib

ark falls in love with Sylvia, the beautiful, but quirky girl next door, not realizing that she’s a vampire who killed his last neighbor. When Mark first meets Sylvia, he tells her, “You’re the girl of my dreams!” Sylvia smiles and responds with a warning—“Be careful what you wish for.”

n this sequel to The Vampire Girl Next Door, Mark and Sylvia must deal with terrorists, a CIA agent, a vampire-hunting cult, and a mansion full of Sylvia’s vampire friends— some of whom she can’t really trust. Will Mark and Sylvia’s love be enough to survive it all?

“The Vampire Girl Next Door is a choice pick for one looking for a romance with a supernatural twist, highly recommended.” —John Burroughs, Midwest Book Review

“The Vampire Girl in London would satisfy supernatural fans and I’m once again entertained by Arbib’s fascinating couple, Sylvia and Mark.” —Lit Amri, Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews

www.thevampiregirlnextdoor.com

Available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

Paperback and all e-book formats available on author’s website.

Pokergeist by Michael Phillip Cash

n awful gambler trying to scrape by as a professional poker player, Telly becomes the protégé of world famous poker champion Clutch Henderson. The only catch…Clutch is a ghost. Telly and Clutch navigate the Las Vegas gambling life learning to trust each other in order to win the elusive International Series of Poker, repair their shattered relationships and find redemption. www.michaelphillipcash.com FACEBOOK LINK | TWITTER LINK Available at Amazon.

Jim Gleeson’s thrilling MATT LACKER TRILOGY Matt Lacker, rises to CIA Director and then resigns amid controversy and writes a novel taking place in a shocking American future. It exposes corruption and evil at the highest levels AND seeks a mysterious redemption for his own past. Join Matt Lacker on his breathtaking journey from bad-ass government hit-man to loving friend and rock-star savior of a broken country. www.sciencegodandyou.com Available at Amazon.

BOOK SHELF Cannabis for Seniors by Beverly A. Potter, PhD

y using cannabis seniors can manage everyday health concerns without powerful, habitforming medications to soothe pain, reduce inflammation, decrease stress, speed recovery time, and elevate mood—all of which increase Seniors’ quality of life. When used in conjunction with other physician-recommended therapy, cannabis can help Seniors reduce dependency on narcotic pain meds to avoid opioid addiction—which is an epidemic. www.docpotter.com/index_useful.html Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Books-a-Million, and Tattered Cover. Miracles Master the Art by Nancy Lynne Harris, M.A.

eaches you how to heal yourself without medicine by changing your attitudes, feelings and beliefs from negative to positive. Helps you discover the specific positive words that will heal your illness. Shows you how to control the pure spirit energy you are made of. Includes specific words to think to change your blood chemistry for health. Helps you get well.

$14.95 ISBN 978-0-9815-0464-3 www.GodSpiritsUnited.com Available at author’s website, Amazon, and Baker & Taylor.

Love in the Cretaceous by Howard W. Robertson Dawn McCarra Bass, Seattle Review of Books: “Love in the Cretaceous runs on a mix of narrative energy and metaphysical consideration. What happens to the human heart when it simultaneously faces devastating personal loss and a threat with global implications?” The novel is a love story set a hundred years in the future in a dinosaur park in Oregon. Ted Beebe has lost the love of his life and is suddenly alone in old age. He keeps alive his wife’s memory while creating a new family to guide the dinosaur park through the challenges of humanity’s uncertain future. www.howardwrobertson.com Available at Amazon and Anaphora Literary Press. The Tail Wags the Dog by Dr. Amy Beth Taublieb

n contrast to the typical self-help books authored by professionals where the clinician attempts to impart his or her wisdom to the reading audience, “The Tail Wags the Dog” is comprised entirely of lessons learned by the author from her patients. Based on the premise that when done properly, therapy is a reciprocal learning experience, this book shares two hundred life lessons imparted to the author by her patients over a period of almost three decades. www.dramybeth.com Available at Amazon andBarnes & Noble.

BOOK SHELF Chasing Mercury by September Williams

hasing Mercury is a lyrical, erotic, embodied prose of resistance and resilience. A Black Ballerina and a Powwow dancer meet in the Montreal Airport, their love evolving during the transatlantic crossing. Ripped apart by the war against industrial pollution, and the mangling of human life by mercury poisoning, their duty is their downfall—until they rise again. Chasing Mercury is a romantic suspense with elements of memoir. www.septemberwilliams.com Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Barnes & Noble, IBooks, Google Play, and Kobo.

Unshielded Past by Patti Morelli

nshielded Past picks up from where Samantha warns of danger to Annie and Andrew in Shielded Past. The identity of the woman in the hospital is quickly revealed which leads Andrew again to investigate the woman’s motive. As Kate moves toward finding happiness with Edward, Annie seeks the answers to her mother’s abandonment and the abuse she endured from her father. Some of those answers are welcome blessings, others are heartbreaking and a threat to all she holds dear and her very life. www.pattimorelli.com Available at Amazon and Trafford Books. Blood Lake By R.L. Herron

A Bitter Wind by Anita Merrick

hen Alexander ‘Ramses’ Smith is assigned to decipher hieroglyphs at Temple of Khnum—all heka breaks loose. A strange darkness cloaks everything: the temple, spirits and supernatural beings, all seemingly conspiring to reawaken his clairvoyance over logic/scholarship. Lex goes on an emotional rollercoaster ride where a time entanglement shatters all sense of reality, putting him dangerously susceptible to ancient secrets infused in stone; re-defining the lines between imagination and reality—or losing a battle for sanity.—Read: Kirkus Recommendation (Website) www.anitamerrickauthor.com Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Friesen Press, Google Play, iTunes, Kindle, and Kobo.

ward-winning author R.L. Herron has created a spine-tingling modern horror thriller based on the curse of a Cherokee prophet executed for defying the forced migration of the Cherokee people in 1838 known as “The Trail of Tears.” As John Burnett is about to discover, Tsali’s bitter curse has followed the only sons of the Burnett family for eight generations. Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal Winner ● ● Foreword INDIE Book-of-the-Year Finalist ● ● Shelf Unbound Notable 100 for 2016 ● ●

www.ronaldherron.com Available at Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

BOOK SHELF That Brant County Sound! by Tom Ryerson

n 1978 Thunderbird Recordings put the town of Burford, Ontario on the map with the top thirty hit ‘Ten Miles from Home.’ That Brantford Sound! Follows the human story of a fledgling independent label, it’s successes and failures. Includes the careers of Terry Sumsion and Roger Quick and mentions the beginnings of Michelle Wright and Shania Twain in country music. http://a-biggerworld.blogspot.ca Available at Amazon. You Shall Know Our Names by Ezekiel Nieto Benzion

FINALIST National Jewish Book Award, 2014

s my grandfather gave me the 200-year-old journals, he pleaded, “I must know what is hidden here. You read the ancient language. Who were these men? What did they do? Why did the family preserve these books for centuries?” So my journey began. By its end I had discovered my history and the secrets in my name. www.tellingourtales.net Available at Amazon.

Ghosts of War by David Kerr Chivers

llie Morton encounters, a ghost from over a hundred years before, with Ollie's name, and whose past life mirrors Ollie's present. The story shifts to Pittsfield in 1861 where two brothers, Oliver and Ben Morton, are heading off to war, and dealing with their own growing rivalry, played out on the battlefields of the Civil War. As Ollie's own problems with Ben head to their climax, is he doomed to repeat the mistakes of his family's past? Will the ghosts of his family's past lead Ollie to safety, or push him into a fight that echoes down the generations? Available at Amazon. Scapegoat—A Flight Crew’s Journey from Heroes to Villains to Redemption by Emilio Corsetti lll

he true story of a flight crew wrongly blamed for causing a near-fatal accident and the captain’s decades-long battle to clear his name. “Fasten your seatbelt for an incredible story of injustice.” —Karlene Petitt, international airline pilot, safety consultant, and best-selling author www.emiliocorsetti.com www.facebook.com/Scapegoatbook Available everywhere in eBook, print, and audio download

BOOK SHELF Making a Living Making a Life by Daniel Rose Abbey by Gary Hope

“A

bbey” is a story of love you didn’t think possible…a story you wish had happened to you. It’s a story of love that is so overwhelming that hearing the sound of her voice in your ear fills your senses with her completely. You inhale her, you taste her. Your life begins with her and without her, it must surely end. The pessimist in you is certain a love this fulfilling and unending is improbable at best, except in your dreams. But Abbey lives this dream for us. He enables us to imagine what love could be. www.garyhopebooks.com Available at Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. On Gratitude:The Journey, A Photo Recovery Book by Jean-Marie Manthei, MA, LPC, CACIII

his inspiring account by an ex-smoker will open your eyes to the difficulties and the rewards of quitting smoking to live a healthier life. This photo-filled book about recovery playfully discusses recovery issues, and the message is one of hope. Positive outcomes are possible, but you have to create them and be proactive. Jean has also practiced alcohol and drug counseling since 1993. She has overcome and managed her own disability by doing her own emotional work and that has paid off in her writing and photography skills as well her counseling gifts. www.psyche1902.com Available at Amazon.

real estate developer and philanthropist presents a masterful debut collection of exceptionally cogent and timely speeches and essays. “Ever the stylist, his succinct, well-cadenced prose shows an engaged mind, sharply tuned wit, and compassion and intellect that provide a model for civic engagement.” “A wise, well-honed collection of speeches that address vital issues with fresh, penetrating insight.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Available at Amazon. Resisting Structural Evil: Love as EcologicalEconomic Vocation by Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda

isdom for meeting the unprecedented challenge of our time—forging ways of living that allow Earth to flourish and that diminish the soul-shattering gap between those who have too much and those who have too little. “…a grand prophetic book motivated by love and focused on justice—social justice, ecological justice and dignity for ‘the least of these.’ Don’t miss it!” —Cornel West “A true classic of spiritual progressive consciousness” —Rabbi Michael Lerner www.resistingstructuralevil.com Available at Amazon and Fortress Press.

BOOK SHELF The Paloma Crossing by Randall Reneau

heriff Hardin Steel’s old adversary, the Ochoa Cartel, has acquired a new weapon: Stinger Missiles. Originally supplied to the mujahideen by the CIA, twenty of the surface-to-air missiles are now in the hands of the deadliest drug lord in Mexico. And he wastes no time in putting them to good use . . .

www.randall-reneau.com Available at Amazon.

Sixth Prime by Dan O’Brien

Based on the story of a true 1st Placed USA team that the US media ignored. “Gullible’s Travels: Raw & Uncut” follows the naughty and humorous antics of two friends on a USA ladies sports team and their 1st Place stretch both domestically and internationally. Go USA! Find out what countries were destroyed in their path, on and off the field. “...This author proves racy reading can be done funny, without the S&M, whips and chains.” (Full page ad in Dec/Jan Shelf Unbound issue) @JLeeWebster

n interrupted afterhours pharmacy robbery results in the murder of a pharmacist and his wife. Since the murdered woman is the police chief’s sister, the police are determined to catch the couple’s killer. Their guilt-ridden daughter, an investigative reporter, is also on the killer’s trail. The two separate tracks of investigations collide at Club Dionysus, a ladies’ club. To catch the brutal killer a respected Dallas detective must pose as a male stripper at Club Dionysus. The body count rises as a dark presence hunts the hunters. www.facebook.com/lizcowan.author Available at Amazon.com.

Gullible’s Travels Raw & Uncut by J. Lee Webster

@JLeeWebsterAuthor

The Dionysus Connection by Liz Cowan

@ j.leewebster

www.gulliblestravelsraw.com Available at fine bookstores everywhere.

2.3.5.7.11.13. A war brews as a galaxy struggles to maintain a peace treaty signed in haste. The Commonwealth boasts sprawling cities built upon slums. The Sovereignty has placed the yoke of industry upon its citizens. Sixteen men and women are connected in a way they cannot yet understand. A murder of a prominent artist begins a chain of events that will ultimately determine the fate of the universe. Only thirteen will remain. In the end, there can be only one Prime. Are you a Prime? www.authordanobrien.com Available at Amazon.

BOOK SHELF Two Tickets to Dubrovnik by Angus Kennedy

ustralian wine writer, Andrew Johnston, goes to Dubrovnik to prepare an article for his editor on the wines and wineries of southern Rhône. He meets up with an old Bordelaise wine making acquaintance, Lucien Delasalles, and his step-sister, Niki Menčetić. He becomes embroiled in the murky affairs of Niki and her family and the local police, which leads to his sad departure from the ancient city. www.anguskennedybooks.com Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble. To The East by Angus Kennedy

ustralian wine writer, Andrew Johnston, has had to leave Niki Menčetić in Dubrovnik while he returns to Australia to provide support for his brother, Adrian, during the illness of his wife. Determined to maintain his renewed relationship with Niki Menčetić, he returns to Europe after a new project in the wine producing regions of California, but with calamitous results. www.anguskennedybooks.com Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble.

A View from the Languedoc by Angus Kennedy

ustralian wine writer, Andrew Johnston, is again staying in Europe, this time with his brother, Adrian, for both work and a holiday. During an extensive new wine project from his publisher, he meets up again with a number of his old acquaintances from both France and Dubrovnik, including Niki Menčetić. Whether he can resolve his difficulties with Niki’s life is uncertain. www.anguskennedybooks.com Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble. The Final Programme by Angus Kennedy

n this final novel of the Out of Solitude tetralogy, Australian wine writer, Andrew Johnston, is comatose in hospital in Sydney, Australia after the events of Međjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His Croatian lover, Niki Menčetić, believes him gone, the victim of a cruel deception by Andrew’s brother, Adrian, and has returned to Dubrovnik. Andrew now has to try to re-establish the rest of his life. www.anguskennedybooks.com Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble.

BOOK SHELF Building a Successful Web App: A Businessperson’s Guide to Making Websites do More by Paul J. Scott

Living Mollusks by Charles E. Rawlings, MD, JD

n Living Mollusks, Dr. Rawlings sheds light upon the incredible realm of the Mollusks through his photos of different, unusual species. His book explores the Mollusks gastropods to nudibranchs. In doing so, he presents multiple images of neverbefore-photographed species. His images range from the sublime beauty of the Nembotha to the brutal cannibalism of the Humboldt Squid. www.livingmollusks.com Available at Amazon. Escaping Viet Nam– H’Yoanh’s Story: A Memoir of Determination, Defiance and Deliverance

by Harriet T. Hill and H’Yoanh K. Buonya

“A must read for everyone! The will to live through such atrocities gives new meaning to freedom.” —K. Gerry, Artist, Editor “Absolutely gripping story of survival! The narrative is compelling...was difficult to put this book down. Highly recommended!” —The Rev. J. A. Hill, Lima Peru After Saigon falls in 1975, a 16-year-old girl follows other Montagnards into the jungles of the Central Highlands to flee persecution by the North Viet Nam Communist Regime. For the next 11 years, danger, starvation, death and faith are her constant companions.

www.harriethillbooks.com Available at Amazon.

ave you ever wished your website could do more than show visitors information about your company and its products or services? Want it to bring new leads, automate time-consuming tasks, or handle customer service issues automatically? Or, do you have a great idea for a startup, but don’t know how to turn your concept into a great website? In Building a Successful Web App, entrepreneur and veteran web developer Paul J. Scott walks you step-bystep through the process of coming up with a great web app concept, choosing the right programming team, and turning your vision into a reality. www.webappbook.com Available at Amazon, Audible, and Clearingly. Crash Lane News

rash Lane News, is a self-help, and United States of America travel book. Texas job seekers, should read this book’s advice. It lists many commercial companies hiring in transportation that work in Texas. There are interviews with travel professionals, travel agencies, and government agencies. Maximize your road, with the science of driving. Visit crashlanenews.com for updated information. www.crashlanenews.com Available at Google Play, BooksAMillion, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Indiebound, and Authorhouse.

BOOK SHELF Time Will Tell Books 1-5 by Eddie Upnick

f you are a fan of historical fiction, time travel, and aliens among us on Earth, then the Time Will Tell book series by Eddie Upnick is for you! Upnick is a master of character development. The creativity, crisp writing and fast-paced plot make for a wild ride you’ll be glad you took. All five books—combined into one e-book—for $4.95 is truly a great deal. www.EddieUpnick.com Available at Amazon.com and Createspace.com. Also available as an audio book, paperback, or on the Kindle. The Friday Edition by Betta Ferrendelli

beautiful, young DA falls from her balcony to her death on Christmas Eve. Police suspect suicide, but the DA’s sister, Samantha Church isn’t buying it. Can she write the biggest story of her career before it’s too late and she’s targeted herself? A compelling and suspenseful read for those who love James Patterson, David Baldacci and Sue Grafton. “The Friday Edition is a page-turner from start to finish.” —Readers’ Favorite, 2014 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Winner www.bettaferrendellibooks.com Available at Amazon.

he Centurion’s T Woman Book I: Maiden by Amanda Flieder

lex fell asleep at a work retreat and woke up in the wrong time. She’s rescued by a Roman Centurion, but that doesn’t help with the trouble that always finds her … Ixillius had been on a routine razing, but Alex— imprisoned and injured—is anything but typical. He claims her as his slave, but needs to know: who is she? www.amandaflieder.ca Available at www.amandaflieder.ca/bookstore Blood and Freedom by Gordon Greenwood

cNeill the sniper is on his way home but a horrific terrorist attack claims everything he holds dear. Plunged into the midst of the CroatSerb conflict, he is thrown together with Alina, daughter of the crooked General Tomelsky. What transpires is a roller coaster ride of thrills and suspense in their bid to escape.

Available at Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

BOOK SHELF Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes

ex and suffrage collide in Mistress Suffragette. At the Memorial Day Ball during the Panic of 1893, impoverished but feisty Penelope Stanton quickly draws the unwanted advances of a villainous millionaire banker who preys on distressed women. During a glittering age where a woman’s reputation is her most valuable possession, Penelope must decide whether to compromise her principles for love.

www.DianaForbesNovels.com Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and Smashwords. Sea Girl by Oz Carter

n Oz Carter’s unvarnished tale of lust, betrayal, and revenge, five misfits— an adulterous wife, a murderous husband, a conflicted daughter, a drug smuggler, and a hired killer—set out to get what they want but find what they need. On board the sailboat Sea Girl, cruising in the sultry Bahamian tropics, inhibitions disappear, along with society’s rules.

www.ozcarterseroticebooks.com Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords

Warrior, Lover, King by Acacia Oak

arrior, Lover, King recounts the tale of the eighthcentury, barbarian king, Charlemagne, known for his love of learning, his commitment to the spread of Christianity, and his efforts to educate the children of his realm. As a coolheaded soldier; a lustful, enthusiastic lover; and a thinking, compassionate king, he truly is a hero sprung from the Dark Ages.

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Worst of All Evils by Janet McClintock

oan Bowman joins the Constitution Defense Legion to fight a runaway government in Washington, D.C., but after working her way into a leadership position, she discovers the underground resistance group is as bad as the government it is fighting. Her only way out alive is to become a state’s witness, but betraying the group means betraying her mentor and lover. Hottest Places In Hell (Series Book #2) will be released in 2015. www.janetmcclintock.com Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

BOOK SHELF Shopping for the Real You by Andrea Pflaumer

Mushy Plays Hide & Seek by Jane Miller

hen Mushy finds that special hiding place, the Strawberry Children are unable to find him. Mushy falls asleep while hiding and the Strawberry Children grow tired of looking for him. As day turns to night, the Strawberry Children get sleepy and return to their home under the vines. Mushy finds his way home with the help of the moon.

“The chapter on the LBD (little black dress) alone is worth the price!” “I found this to be the best book for advice on color and style, easy to read and understand.” “It is loaded with information, all clearly explained. Definitely the best book I have read on the subject.”

www.shoppingfortherealyou.com Available at Amazon and the author’s website.

Promote your book in Shelf Unbound in our Special Advertising Section for Authors. Each issue of Shelf Unbound is distributed to more than 125,000 people in the U.S. and 62 countries around the globe. Our introductory ad rate for this section is $375/quarter page as seen here. Contact publisher Margaret Brown to reserve your space.

Margaret@shelfmediagroup.com 214.704.4182.

Mushy’s Counting Book our child will develop learning skills with this repetitive counting book. Go with Mushy through the forest as he counts. Find new characters as your child searches the land of Moonvile.

Available at Amazon. If You Were Me and Lived in... Colonial America by Carole P. Roman

oin Carole P. Roman and travel through time to visit the most interesting civilizations throughout history. Learn what Colonial American children did for fun. If You Were Me and Lived in... Colonial America does for history what her other award-winning series did for culture. So come and discover the world through the eyes of a young person just like you. www.caroleproman.com FACEBOOK LINK | TWITTER LINK Available at Amazon.

BOOK SHELF Yeshua Son of Man by Cherian Matthews

Vicarious Nobel Prize by Cherian Matthews

he Bible does not tell anything about what Jesus did from the age of 12 to 30. At the same time we know that Jesus called himself son of man. If this appellation suggests that he was human, then the question arises as to how he gained his knowledge and wisdom. The author imagines that Jesus studied at the only University of that time and appied his knowledge during his MISSION TO THE JEWS.

he narrator of this novel is a brilliant Indian Girl named Indu who won a commonwealth Scholarship and meets a couple [Tommy and Susan] already in the University. She develops a crush on the Tommy, and cleverly gets pregnant by him. Eventually, Susan dies of cancer. Induâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, Anita, becomes a brilliant scientist and wins the Noble Prize that eluded Tommy in his lifetime of work. Indu becomes forced to reveal that Tommy was Anitaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biological father. Anita gives her medal to her father as a vicarious prize in the presence of the King.

Available at Amazon.

Contact publisher Margaret Brown to reserve your space.

Margaret@shelfmediagroup.com 214.704.4182.

feature

recommended translations

World Literature Today’s

75 Notable Translations of 2016 by Michelle Johnson, Managing Editor, World Literature Today In our fifth annual list of “75 Notable Translations,” we again offer an admittedly incomplete collection of the year’s English translations. And again, we invite you to share your favorites from the year as well as those you’re most eagerly anticipating in 2017 by using the hashtag #2017Reads on Twitter and Facebook. Two notable firsts: Boubacar Boris Diop’s Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks became the first novel translated from Wolof to English and Phoneme Media published the first English translation of a Burundian novel, Rugero Roland’s Baho!, translated by Chris Schaefer. And a new nonprofit, independent press that will include translated literature among its publications entered the scene. Transit Books will release four titles in 2017. The conversation about women in translation continued. In September, Alison Anderson and David Shook participated in an interview on WLT’s Translation Tuesday blog series, discussing with Melissa Weiss the status of women authors in translation. In November, WLT published an issue devoted exclusively to women writers, cover to cover, including pieces in translation from Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, and Spanish. So if you’re looking for great translations by women writers, perhaps to join Biblio’s #Women in Translation Month, WLT’s November issue and the list below are two great starting points. We look forward to continuing to serve as your passport to great global reading in 2017.—www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/lit-lists/world-literature-todays-75-notable-translations-2016 104 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R

2017

GABRIELA ADAMEȘTEANU The Encounter

trans. Alistair Ian Blyth (Dalkey Archive Press)

MARJORIE AGOSÍN

Harbors of Light trans. E. M. O’Connor (White Pine Press)

SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets

trans. Bela Shayevich (Random House)

AL-SADDIQ AL-RADDI

A Monkey at the Window

trans. Sarah Maguire & Mark Ford (Bloodaxe Books)

YUSUF ATILGAN

Motherland Hotel

trans. Fred Stark (City Lights)

BAE SUAH

A Greater Music

trans. Deborah Smith (Open Letter)

BASMA ABDEL AZIZ

The Queue

trans. Elisabeth Jaquette (Melville House)

WOLFGANG BAUER

Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe

trans. Sarah Pybus (And Other Stories)

HASSAN BLASIM, ED.

Iraq + 100: Stories from a Century after the Invasion (Comma Press)

10 The Book of Dhaka

ed. Arunava Sinha & Pushpita Alam (Comma Press)

11 The Book of Khartoum ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press)

12 ALINA BRONSKY

Baba Dunja’s Last Love

trans. Tim Mohr (Europa Editions)

UNBOUND

105

13 SERGE BRUSSOLO

The Deep Sea Diver’s Syndrome trans. Edward Gauvin (Melville House)

PAULINA CHIZIANE

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy trans. David Brookshaw (Archipelago Books)

15 VIRGINIE DESPENTES Bye Bye Blondie trans. Siân Reynolds (The Feminist Press)

16 ANANDA DEVI

Eve Out of Her Ruins trans. Jeffrey Zuckerman (Deep Vellum)

17 LIDIJA DIMKOVSKA A Spare Life

trans. Christina E. Kramer (Two Lines Press)

18 BOUBACAR BORIS DIOP Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks

trans. Vera Wülfing-Leckie & El Hadji Moustapha Diop (Michigan State UP)

19 ODDNÝ EIR

Land of Love and Ruins

trans. Philip Roughton (Restless Books)

20 ÁLVARO ENRIGUE Sudden Death

trans. Natasha Wimmer (Riverhead Books)

21 LAIA FÀBREGAS Landing

trans. Samantha Schnee (Hispabooks) 106 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R

2017

22 ELENA FERRANTE

Frantumaglia trans. Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions)

ZSUZSANNA GAHSE

Volatile Texts: Us Two trans. Chenxin Jiang (Dalkey Archive Press)

24 NICOLA GARDINI Lost Words

trans. Michael F. Moore (New Directions)

25 FARIBA HACHTROUDI

The Man Who Snapped His Fingers trans. Alison Anderson (Europa Editions)

26 MIGUEL ÁNGEL HERNÁNDEZ Escape Attempt

trans. Rhett McNeil (Hispabooks)

27 YURI HERRERA

The Transmigration of Bodies

trans. Lisa Dillman (And Other Stories)

28 HWANG JUNGEUN

One Hundred Shadows

trans. Jung Yewon (Tilted Axis Press)

29 CHRISTOS IKONOMOU

Something Will Happen, You’ll See

trans. Karen Emmerich (Archipelago Books)

30 RITA INDIANA Papi

trans. Achy Obejas (Chicago UP)

31 RABEE JABER Confessions

trans. Kareem James Abu-Zeid (New Directions)

32 JIA PINGWA

Ruined City

trans. Howard Goldblatt (University of Oklahoma Press)

33 LAIA JUFRESA Umami

trans. Sophie Hughes (OneWorld)

34 JUNG YOUNG-MOON A Contrived World

trans. Jeffrey Karvonen & Mah Eunji (Dalkey Archive Press)

35 MAYLIS DE KERANGAL Mend the Living

trans. Jessica Moore (MacLehose)

JOSEFINE KLOUGART

One of Us Is Sleeping

trans. Martin Aitken (Open Letter)

37 KAREN KOVACIK

Scattering the Dark: An Anthology of Polish Women Poets (White Pine Press)

38 LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI

The Last Wolf & Herman

trans. George Szirtes & John Batki (New Directions)

39 FOUAD LAROUI

The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers trans. Emma Ramadan (Deep Vellum)

108 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R

2017

40 FRANCESCA MELANDRI Eva Sleeps

trans. Katherine Gregor (Europa Editions)

41 LINA MERUANE Seeing Red

trans. Megan McDowell (Deep Vellum)

42 TEDI LÓPEZ MILLS

Against the Current

trans. Wendy Burk (Phoneme Media)

43 IBEN MONDRUP Justine

trans. Kerri A. Pierce (Open Letter)

44 SCHOLASTIQUE MUKASONGA Cockroaches

trans. Jordan Stump (Archipelago Books)

45 FUMINORI NAKAMURA The Gun

trans. Allison Markin Powell (Soho Press)

46 JOÃO GILBERTO NOLL

Quiet Creature on the Corner

trans. Adam Morris (Two Lines Press)

47 DORTHE NORS

So Much for That Winter: Novellas

trans. Misha Hoekstra (Graywolf Press)

48 EUNICE ODIO

Territory of Dawn: Selected Poems

trans. Keith Ekiss with Sonia P. Ticas & Mauricio Espinoza (Bitter Oleander Press)

49 Only the Road / Solo el Camino

ed. & trans. Margaret Randall (Duke UP)

50 ALEJANDRA PIZARNIK

Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962–1972 trans. Yvette Siegert (New Directions)

MAGDALÉNA PLATZOVÁ

The Attempt

trans. Alex Zucker (Bellevue Literary Press)

52 ALEXANDRE VIDAL PORTO Sergio Y.

trans. Alex Ladd, tr. (Europa Editions)

53 Rilke: New Poems

trans. Joseph Cadora (Copper Canyon)

54 AGUSTÍN DE ROJAS The Year 200

trans. Nick Caistor & Hebe Powell (Restless Books)

55 ROLAND RUGERO

Baho! trans. Chris Schaefer (Phoneme Media)

56 TUVIA RUEBNE Late Beauty

trans. Lisa Katz & Shahar Bram (Zephyr Press)

57 RUMI

Love Is My Savior

trans. Nesreen Akhtarkhavari & Anthony A. Lee (Michigan State UP) 110 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R

2017

58 JEAN SÉNAC

Citizens of Beauty trans. Jack Hirschman (Michigan State UP)

59 YOUVAL SHIMONI A Room

trans. Michael Sharp (Dalkey Archive Press)

60 KNUTS SKUJENIEKS Seed in Snow

trans. Bitite Vinklers (BOA Editions, Ltd.)

ALAWIYA SOBH

Maryam: Keeper of Stories trans. Nirvana Tanoukhi (Seagull Books)

62 PHILIPPE SOUPAULT

Lost Profiles: Memoirs of Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism

trans. Alan Bernheimer, (City Lights)

63 YOKO TAWADA

Memoirs of a Polar Bear

trans. Susan Bernofsky (New Directions)

64 TEFFI

Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea

trans. Robert Chandler, Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson & Irina Steinberg (NYRB)

65 BEI TONG

Beijing Comrades

trans. Scott E. Myers (Feminist Press)

66 SUZANA TRATNIK

Games with Greta and Other Stories trans. Michael Biggins (Dalkey Archive Press)

67 MARCELINO TRUON

Such a Lovely Little War

trans. David Homel (Arsenal Pulp Press)

68 TSEVEENDORJIN OIDOV

The End of the Dark Era trans. Simon Wickhamsmith (Phoneme Media)

69 MARIA TURTSCHANINOFF Maresi: The Red Abbey Chronicles trans. Annie Prime (Pushkin Children’s Books)

70 LUDMILA ULITSKAYA

The Kukotsky Enigma

trans. Diane Nemec Ignashev (Northwestern UP)

71 ENRIQUE VILA-MATAS Vampire in Love

trans. Margaret Jull Costa (New Directions)

72 ZAREH VORPOUNI The Candidate

trans. Jennifer Manoukian & Ishkhan Jinbashian (Syracuse UP)

73 XI XI

Not Written Words

trans. Jennifer Feeley (Zephyr Press)

74 MUHAMMAD ZAFZAF The Elusive Fox

trans. Mbarek Sryfi & Roger Allen (Syracuse UP)

75 JOVANKA ŽIVANOVIĆ Fragile Travelers

trans. Jovanka Kalaba (Dalkey Archive Press) 112 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R

2017

WORD PERFECT

Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture. â&#x20AC;&#x2022;Anthony Burgess