grahamiam's review
5.0
I opened this book thinking it would be an obligation. It's weighty and anthologies are so often uneven and not well curated.
It turned out to be anything but. There was a wonderful mix of deeply engaging fiction and incisive essays, all of which connected with Venezuela on a meaningful level. The first and final essays are direct, specific case studies to follow Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America. The fiction spans a wide range of style but it still all fits together seamlessly.
A couple of minor nits to pick: I wish fiction and nonfiction had been labeled. I wish there wasn't a super explicit three-page sex scene in the first section (primarily because I wanted to buy a copy of this book for all my in-laws). I wish a little more of the Spanish phrases had been left in side-by-side with the English versions, especially when it came to political slogans/chants.
Anyways, I'm very sad I'm posting the first review of this book on Goodreads. Go check it out; it really is great.
It turned out to be anything but. There was a wonderful mix of deeply engaging fiction and incisive essays, all of which connected with Venezuela on a meaningful level. The first and final essays are direct, specific case studies to follow Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America. The fiction spans a wide range of style but it still all fits together seamlessly.
A couple of minor nits to pick: I wish fiction and nonfiction had been labeled. I wish there wasn't a super explicit three-page sex scene in the first section (primarily because I wanted to buy a copy of this book for all my in-laws). I wish a little more of the Spanish phrases had been left in side-by-side with the English versions, especially when it came to political slogans/chants.
Anyways, I'm very sad I'm posting the first review of this book on Goodreads. Go check it out; it really is great.
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