Umami
Autor Laia Jufresa Traducere de Sophie Hughesen Limba Engleză Hardback – 13 sep 2016
“Ms. Jufresa: Where the f*#! did you learn to tell a story so well?” —Álvaro Enrigue, award-winning author of Sudden Death
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 twelve-year-old who spends her days buried in Agatha Christie novels to forget the mysterious death of her little sister years earlier. Over the summer she decides to plant a milpa in her backyard, and as she digs the ground and plants her seeds, her neighbors in turn delve into their past. 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?
In prose that is dazzlingly inventive, funny and tender, Laia Jufresa immerses us in the troubled lives of her narrators, deftly unpicking their stories to offer a darkly comic portrait of contemporary Mexico, as whimsical as it is heart-wrenching.
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 twelve-year-old who spends her days buried in Agatha Christie novels to forget the mysterious death of her little sister years earlier. Over the summer she decides to plant a milpa in her backyard, and as she digs the ground and plants her seeds, her neighbors in turn delve into their past. 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?
In prose that is dazzlingly inventive, funny and tender, Laia Jufresa immerses us in the troubled lives of her narrators, deftly unpicking their stories to offer a darkly comic portrait of contemporary Mexico, as whimsical as it is heart-wrenching.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781780748917
ISBN-10: 1780748914
Pagini: 240
Dimensiuni: 137 x 219 x 24 mm
Greutate: 0.43 kg
Editura: Oneworld Publications
Colecția Oneworld Publications
Locul publicării:United Kingdom
ISBN-10: 1780748914
Pagini: 240
Dimensiuni: 137 x 219 x 24 mm
Greutate: 0.43 kg
Editura: Oneworld Publications
Colecția Oneworld Publications
Locul publicării:United Kingdom
Recenzii
"In UMAMI, Jufresa, an extremely talented young writer, deploys multiple narrators, giving each a chance to recount their personal histories, and the questions they’re still asking. Panoramic, affecting, and funny, these narratives entwine to weave a unique portrait of present-day Mexico."
—The Millions
"The debut novel of Mexican-born Laia Jufresa is a darkly humorous tale about five neighbors living in the heart of Mexico City. Taking place during a hot rainy summer, Jufresa's evocative portrait of contemporary Mexico lends whimsy with poignancy. Guaranteed to challenge and move you."
—Vogue (UK)
"Laia Jufresa possesses the wisdom of the oldest of souls and the endearing spontaneity of a child. Her writing is serious and playful in equal measure; her observations, at once brutal and full of empathy and tenderness. Reading her is like traveling through the minds of everyone we know, guided by a soft, reliable voice that tells us: stop, listen, observe.”
—Valeria Luiselli, author of The Story of My Teeth
“Ms. Jufresa: Where the f*#! did you learn to tell a story so well?”
—Álvaro Enrigue, award-winning author of Sudden Death
"A wonderfully surprising novel, powered by wit, exuberance and nostalgia."
—Chloe Aridjis, author of Book of Clouds and Asunder
"The best Mexico City novels find a way to incarnate that city's crazy protean energies, every sentence lifted from its psychic sidewalks and rooftops, and with a dashing charisma all their own. Roberto Bolaño's Savage Detectives did this, and so does Laia Jufresa's extraordinary, utterly enchanting and brilliant, multi-everything UMAMI."
—Francisco Goldman, award-winning author of Say Her Name
—The Millions
"The debut novel of Mexican-born Laia Jufresa is a darkly humorous tale about five neighbors living in the heart of Mexico City. Taking place during a hot rainy summer, Jufresa's evocative portrait of contemporary Mexico lends whimsy with poignancy. Guaranteed to challenge and move you."
—Vogue (UK)
"Laia Jufresa possesses the wisdom of the oldest of souls and the endearing spontaneity of a child. Her writing is serious and playful in equal measure; her observations, at once brutal and full of empathy and tenderness. Reading her is like traveling through the minds of everyone we know, guided by a soft, reliable voice that tells us: stop, listen, observe.”
—Valeria Luiselli, author of The Story of My Teeth
“Ms. Jufresa: Where the f*#! did you learn to tell a story so well?”
—Álvaro Enrigue, award-winning author of Sudden Death
"A wonderfully surprising novel, powered by wit, exuberance and nostalgia."
—Chloe Aridjis, author of Book of Clouds and Asunder
"The best Mexico City novels find a way to incarnate that city's crazy protean energies, every sentence lifted from its psychic sidewalks and rooftops, and with a dashing charisma all their own. Roberto Bolaño's Savage Detectives did this, and so does Laia Jufresa's extraordinary, utterly enchanting and brilliant, multi-everything UMAMI."
—Francisco Goldman, award-winning author of Say Her Name
Notă biografică
Laia Jufresa was born in Mexico City, grew up in the cloud forest of Veracruz, and spent her adolescence in Paris. In 2001, she returned to Mexico City and discovered she didn’t know how to cross a street. She’s been writing fiction ever since.
She holds a BA from La Sorbonne University and is the author of the short story collection El esquinista. Her work has been featured in several anthologies as well as magazines such as Letras Libres, Pen Atlas, Words Without Borders and McSweeney's. In 2014 Laia was invited to write chronicles for the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, and in 2015 she was invited by the British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at the Hay Festival in Wales. Laia was named one of the most outstanding young writers in Mexico, as part of the 2015 project México20, the anthology of which was published in 2015. She currently lives in Cologne, Germany.
Sophie Hughes is a literary translator and editor living in Mexico City. Her translations have appeared in Asymptote, PEN Atlas, and the White Review and her reviews in the Times Literary Supplement and Literary Review.
She holds a BA from La Sorbonne University and is the author of the short story collection El esquinista. Her work has been featured in several anthologies as well as magazines such as Letras Libres, Pen Atlas, Words Without Borders and McSweeney's. In 2014 Laia was invited to write chronicles for the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, and in 2015 she was invited by the British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at the Hay Festival in Wales. Laia was named one of the most outstanding young writers in Mexico, as part of the 2015 project México20, the anthology of which was published in 2015. She currently lives in Cologne, Germany.
Sophie Hughes is a literary translator and editor living in Mexico City. Her translations have appeared in Asymptote, PEN Atlas, and the White Review and her reviews in the Times Literary Supplement and Literary Review.