Alejandro Zambra

What is the relationship between an author and their editor? What influence does one exert over the other? In A Christmas Story, which takes us back to Santiago de Chile at the turn of the century, we witness the formation of an invisible triangle between these two interlocutors and the text that you hold in your hands – a narrative with its beams exposed. The reader is granted the rare opportunity to observe the individual and subjective nature of this dialectic: how fragile and particular – but also how strong – it can become. In Megan McDowell’s brilliantly playful translation and interventions, the story of the relationship between a writer and his editor takes on an extra layer of meaning, revealing how conversations and doubts begin to overflow beyond the page, the text, the work itself, forging bonds that no longer cling to literature alone, but to life.

Bonsai är en stor liten berättelse om de två unga chilenska litteratur­studenterna Julio och Emilia, som i sin jakt på sanningen i den stora litteraturen istället finner varandra. De träffas på universitetet och inleder en intensiv romans som kretsar kring böckerna de läser, och böckerna de ljuger för varandra om att de har läst. Med tiden glider de dock isär, och som läsare vet vi redan från första sidan att Emilia inte längre lever. Men genom Julio, som bestämmer sig för att hedra Emilias minne genom att odla ett bonsai­träd, får vi ta del av en innovativ och mycket speciell berättelse som på ett briljant sätt under­söker förhållandet mellan kärlek, litteratur och minne. Denna debutroman från 2008, som belönades med både det chilenska kritikerpriset och det chilenska kulturrådets pris för bästa roman, etablerade Alejandro Zambra som en av sin generations främsta latinameri­kanska författare. Nu inleder vi en nyintroduk­tion av honom på svenska. "Bonsai är ett miniatyrmästerverk, en roman som är både kort och omfattande, och fångar essensen av ung kärlek med enastående klarhet och insikt."GuardianAlejandro Zambra, född 1975 i Santiago, är en fram­stående chilensk författare, poet och kritiker. Han bor idag i Mexico City. Annakarin Thorburn är översättare från spanska och har översatt en lång rad framstående författare, såsom Samanta Schweblin, Valeria Luiselli, Pilar Quintana och Juan Rulfo.

How do we write about the singular experience of parenthood? Written in a ‘state of attachment’, or ‘under the influence’ of fatherhood, Childish Literature is an eclectic guide for novice parents, showing how the birth and growth of a child changes not only the present and the future, but also reshapes our perceptions of the past. Shifting from moving dispatches from his son’s first year of existence, to a treatise on ‘football sadness’, to a psychedelic narrative where a man tries, mid-magic mushroom trip, to re-learn the subtle art of crawling, this latest work from Alejandro Zambra shows how children shield adults from despondency, self-absorption and the tyrannies of chronological time. At once a chronicle of fatherhood, a letter to a child and a work of fiction, Childish Literature is the latest, virtuosic addition to the oeuvre of one of the most exciting Latin American writers in recent decades.

"Hopeful, funny, and full of wisdom. A meditation on fatherhood by one of our most perceptive writers." --Tara Westover, author of Educated From the author of My Documents and Chilean Poet, a wise, humorous, and captivating literary exploration of the delights and absurdities of childhood, fatherhood, and family life Childish Literature is a charming and wide-ranging collection of short stories, essays, and even a couple of poems produced under the influence of fatherhood, a transformative experience that reshapes and enlivens the author's relationship to aging, intimacy, and time. Written in Alejandro Zambra's brilliantly warm, playful, and philosophical voice, these pieces explore the lives of families and their stories through a wide variety of topics--from screen time and "soccer sadness" to personal libraries, fishing, and psychedelics. Throughout, Zambra captures the texture of daily life and deep truths about how we feel and live, with particular insight into the ways parents and children challenge, enrich, and entertain each other. Simultaneously lighthearted and profound, and brilliantly rendered by National Book Award-winning translator Megan McDowell, Childish Literature is an intimate and unclassifiable new work by an internationally celebrated writer.

Joissakin piireissa chilelaiset runoilijat ovat kuumaa valuuttaa!Huikean lahjakkaan kirjailijan kertomus isista ja pojista, yrityksesta ja erehdyksesta ja siita, mita perhe oikeastaan tarkoittaa.Gonzalo on aloitteleva runoilija, joka sattumalta tormaa yokerhossa Santiagossa ensirakkauteensa, Carlaan. Heidan tunteensa ovat ennallaan, mutta moni asia on muuttunut. Muun muassa se, Carlalla on nyt kuusivuotias poika, Vicente. Pian kaikki kolme muodostavat jonkinlaisen perheen - uusperheen, vaikkei sanaa viela olekaan olemassa.Loppumalta elama vie rakastavaisia eri suuntiin - Gonzalon New Yorkiin asti. Vaikka Gonzalo pakkaa lahtiessaan kirjat mukaansa, Vicente peri exisapuolensa rakkauden runouteen. Kahdeksantoista vuotiaana Vicente tapaa Santiagon yohon eksyneen Prun, amerikkalaisen toimittajan. Vicente yllyttaa Prun kirjoittamaan chilelaisista runoilijoista - ei kuuluisista ja kuolleista, niin kuin Neruda, Mistral ja Bolano, vaan tavallisista, elavista ja elantoaan kieli vyon alla tavoittelevista runoilijoista. Prun taustatyot vievat hanet taman omaperaisen yhteison pariin - erikoislaatuisen mutta pohjimmiltaan rakastavan perheen. Kysymys kuuluu, saattaako se myos Vicenten ja Gonzalon takaisin yhteen? Kirjan on suomentanut Sari Selander.Alejandro Zambra (s. 1975) on modernin chilelaisen kirjallisuuden kirkkaimpia tahtia. Chilelainen runoilija on hanen viides romaaninsa. Han on voittanut lukuisia palkintoja kotimaassaan ja keikkunut bestsellerlistojen karjessa niin Chilessa, USA:ssa kuin muuallakin.”Alykas ja liikuttava romaani - Samaan aikaan tyylikas, ironinen ja lempea.” - New York Times”Herkka ja hauska tarina rakkaudesta, perheesta ja isapuolen kummallisesta roolista.” - Los Angeles Times

One of Latin America's greatest historical novels deals with the impact of the French Revolution on the CaribbeanWhen he arrives in Cuba at the close of the eighteenth century, Victor Hugues, a merchant sailor from Marseille brings with him not only the idealism of the French Revolution but also its ambition and desire for bloodshed. Landing at the Havana doorstep of three wealthy Creole adolescent orphans, he leads them across the Caribbean Sea to Guadeloupe, into the midst of the immense changes sweeping the world outside their life in Havana. As Victor's ideals begin to warp and change to fit shifting policies, the trio can no longer bear his betrayal of revolutionary ideas. What ensues in this magical realist masterpiece speaks to the frightening and corrupting allure of power.

The landmark first story collection from internationally acclaimed author Alejandro Zambra, now featuring five additional stories and an introduction by his longtime collaborator, Megan McDowell An early desktop computer becomes the third partner in a doomed relationship; an older brother figure whose father lives in exile imparts hilarious life lessons to his young prot g . A man attempts to quit smoking despite the fact that he's very good at it; another masquerades as the family man he'll never be. Throughout, Pinochet's dictatorship casts a long shadow, and men in relationships exhibit their profound capacity for both love and harm. In these unforgettable stories--which span religion, romance, technology, soccer, solitude, and more--Alejandro Zambra unfolds a radical literary reflection on life, relationships, and the tender and brutal dimensions of masculinity in Chile from the 1980s to the present. Intimate and playful, provocative and profound, and brilliantly rendered by National Book Award winning translator Megan McDowell, My Documents a testament to the necessity of literature even--and especially--in times of political and personal crisis.

Komplekt iz dvukh knig sovremennogo chilijskogo pisatelja Akhekhandro Sambra daet vozmozhnost chitateljam pogruzitsja v kolorit chilijskoj sovremennoj literatury i uznat, kak i o chem sejchas pishut v Latinskoj Amerike. Eti knigi pro vzaimosvjaz mezhdu ljubovju, iskusstvom i pamjatju mogut stat otlichnym podarkom blizkim ljudjam.Istorija ob ottsakh i detjakh, ambitsijakh i neudachakh, a takzhe o tom, chto znachit sozdat semju. Eto otvet na vopros, chto znachit byt muzhchinoj v otnoshenijakh - partnerom, ottsom, otchimom, uchitelem, ljubovnikom, pisatelem i drugom. Sambra polnotsenno raskryvaet temu otnoshenij na vsekh etapakh.Posle sluchajnoj vstrechi v nochnom klube nachinajuschij poet Gonsalo vossoedinjaetsja so svoej pervoj ljubovju Karloj. I khotja ikh vlechenie drug k drugu ne ostylo, izmenilos mnogoe drugoe: sredi prochego, u Karly teper est shestiletnij syn Visente. Vskore vse troe obrazujut schastlivuju semju - svodnuju semju, khotja v ikh jazyke net takogo slova.V kontse kontsov ambitsii tjanut vljublennykh v raznye storony, no vse zhe malenkij Visente nasleduet ljubov svoego byvshego otchima k poezii. Kogda v vosemnadtsat let Visente vstrechaet Pru, amerikanskuju zhurnalistku, on pobuzhdaet ee pisat o chilijskikh poetakh - ne o znamenitykh, mertvykh, a o zhivykh. Privedet li eto rassledovanie Visente i Gonsalo obratno drug k drugu?"Chilijskij poet" - roman o tom, kak my vybiraem nashi semi i kak my inogda predaem ikh. Eto otvet na vopros, chto znachit byt muzhchinoj v otnoshenijakh - partnerom, ottsom, otchimom, uchitelem, ljubovnikom, pisatelem i drugom."Bonsaj" - eto istorija Khulio i Emilii, dvukh molodykh chilijskikh studentov, kotorye ischut istinu v velikoj literature, no vmesto etogo nakhodjat drug druga. Kak i vse molodye pary oni primerjajut na sebja novye lichnosti, nabljudajut i analizirujut svoju istoriju ljubvi, kak budto eto odin iz velichajshikh romanov, kotoryj oni oba pritvorjajutsja, chto prochitali. I poka oni sledjat drug za drugom na protjazhenii vsej svoej junosti, to skhodjas, to raskhodjas, Alekhandro Sambra sozdaet novatorskuju metafizicheskuju istoriju, blestjasche issledujuschuju vzaimosvjaz mezhdu ljubovju, iskusstvom i pamjatju.Perevodchik: Petrov Gennadij

På en nattklubb i Santiago støter den vordende poeten Gonzalo på sin første kjærlighet, Carla. Mye har forandret seg på de ni årene som er gått, men de finner raskt tilbake til hverandre. Gonzalo inntar den uvante rollen som stefar for Carlas seks år gamle sønn, Vicente, og sammen utgjør de en lykkelig liten familie - i hvert fall helt til Gonzalo får innvilget et doktorgradsstipend i New York. Vicente følger uten å være klar over det i sin stefars fotspor og vokser opp til å bli en ung, håpefull poet. Han forelsker seg i Pru, en amerikansk journalist som han tilfeldigvis møter på gaten i Santiago. Vicente snakker henne bort fra ideen om å skrive om chilenske løshunder, og overtaler henne til heller å skrive om chilenske poeter. De reiser land og strand rundt for å intervjue medlemmene av det som skal vise seg å være en slags broket familie av mennesker som lever og ånder for poesien. Med varm og samtidig bitende humor skriver Alejeandro Zambra dypsindig, ikke bare om chilenske poeters eksentriske livsførsel, men om ungdommelige ambisjoner, forelskelser og kjærlighetssorg, om hvordan en famille oppstår og hvordan den kan gå i oppløsning.

Verónica is late, and Julián is increasingly convinced she won't ever come home. To pass the time, he improvises a story about trees to coax his stepdaughter, Daniela, to sleep. He has made a life as a literature professor, developing a novel about a man tending to a bonsai tree on the weekends. He is a narrator, an architect, a chronicler of other people's stories. But as the night stretches on before him, and the hours pass with no sign of Verónica, Julián finds himself caught up in the slipstream of the story of his life – of their lives together. What combination of desire and coincidence led them here, to this very night? What will the future – and possibly motherless – Daniela think of him and his stories? Why tell stories at all? The Private Lives of Trees, Alejandro Zambra’s second novel, now published in the UK for the first time in a revised translation by Megan McDowell, overflows with his signature wit and his gift for crafting short novels that manage to contain whole worlds.

Gonzalo is a frustrated would-be poet in a city full of poets; poets lurk in every bookshop, prop up every bar, ready to debate the merits of Teillier and Millan (but never Neruda - beyond the pale). Then, nine years after their bewildering breakup, Gonzalo reunites with his teen sweetheart, Carla, who is now, to his surprise, the mother of a young son, Vicente. Soon they form a happy sort-of family - a stepfamily, though no such word exists in their language. In time, fate and ambition pull the lovers apart, but when it comes to love and poetry, what will be Gonzalo's legacy to his not-quite-stepson Vicente? Zambra chronicles with tenderness and insight the everyday moments - absurd, painful, sexy, sweet, profound - that constitute family life in this bold and brilliant new novel.

The second novel by the internationally celebrated writer Alejandro Zambra, a "short and strikingly original" (The New Yorker) book about the stories we spin for ourselves and our loved ones--now reissued by Penguin Veronica is late, and Juli n is increasingly convinced she won't ever come home. To pass the time, he improvises a story about trees to coax his stepdaughter, Daniela, to sleep. He has made a life as a literature professor, developing a novel about a man tending to a bonsai tree on the weekends. He is a narrator, an architect, a chronicler of other people's stories. But as the night stretches on before him, and the hours pass with no sign of Veronica, Juli n finds himself caught up in the slipstream of the story of his life--of their lives together. What combination of desire and coincidence led them here, to this very night? What will the future--and possibly motherless--Daniela think of him and his stories? Why tell stories at all? The second novel by acclaimed Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra, The Private Lives of Trees overflows with his signature wit and his gift for crafting short novels that manage to contain whole worlds.

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A WALL STREET JOURNAL TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF NPR'S "BOOKS WE LOVE" "A tender and funny story about love, family and the peculiar position of being a stepparent... Chilean Poet] broadens the author's scope and quite likely his international reputation." --Los Angeles Times "Zambra is] one of the most brilliant Latin American writers of his generation." --The New York Review of Books "Zambra's books have long shown him to be a writer who, at the sentence level, is in a world all his own." --Juan Vidal, NPR.org A writer of "startling talent" (The New York Times Book Review), Alejandro Zambra returns with his most substantial work yet: a story of fathers and sons, ambition and failure, and what it means to make a family After a chance encounter at a Santiago nightclub, aspiring poet Gonzalo reunites with his first love, Carla. Though their desire for each other is still intact, much has changed: among other things, Carla now has a six-year-old son, Vicente. Soon the three form a happy sort-of family--a stepfamily, though no such word exists in their language. Eventually, their ambitions pull the lovers in different directions--in Gonzalo's case, all the way to New York. Though Gonzalo takes his books when he goes, still, Vicente inherits his ex-stepfather's love of poetry. When, at eighteen, Vicente meets Pru, an American journalist literally and figuratively lost in Santiago, he encourages her to write about Chilean poets--not the famous, dead kind, your Nerudas or Mistrals or Bola os, but rather the living, striving, everyday ones. Pru's research leads her into this eccentric community--another kind of family, dysfunctional but ultimately loving. Will it also lead Vicente and Gonzalo back to each other? In Chilean Poet, Alejandro Zambra chronicles with enormous tenderness and insight the small moments--sexy, absurd, painful, sweet, profound--that make up our personal histories. Exploring how we choose our families and how we betray them, and what it means to be a man in relationships--a partner, father, stepfather, teacher, lover, writer, and friend--it is a bold and brilliant new work by one of the most important writers of our time.

A tender, acute, hilarious saga about fathers, sons and the many forms of family, from a writer internationally heralded as a voice of his generation.

Bonsai is the story of Julio and Emilia, two young Chilean students who, seeking truth in great literature, find each other instead. Like all young couples, they lie to each other, revise themselves, and try new identities on for size, observing and analyzing their love story as if it’s one of the great novels they both pretend to have read. As they shadow each other throughout their young adulthoods, falling together and drifting apart, Zambra spins a formally innovative, metafictional tale that brilliantly explores the relationship among love, art, and memory.