Intimate, mysterious, and uncanny, these stories reveal a mind that is as undeniably singular as it is universal. Together, they constitute the debut short-story collection from Zambra, whose first novel was heralded as a “bloodletting in Chilean literature.”Whether chronicling the return of a mercurial godson or the disappearance of a trusted cousin, the worlds of these stories are so powerful and deep that the works might better be described as brief novels. My Documents is by turns hilarious and heart-stopping, tragic and tender, but most of all, it is unflinchingly human and essential evidence of a sublimely talented writer working at the height of his powers.

    Its violent palette and its restless formal play—”postcard,” prose poem, epigram, ghazal—are not gratuitous but a response to the turbulent and vivid Mexico it describes. Nature and culture on a collision course: skies filled with volcanic ash and streets ranged by ravenous mutts but also the poverty and desperation behind the drug wars. It’s to the credit of this unusual first collection that these striking features still allow for quieter humour and tenderness. —Jamie McKendrick

    poetry

    Seven years after leaving his father's home, Javier is growing increasingly restless as he works the streets of New York. But when he is taken in by Marcel, a boisterous, charismatic Cuban with a legion of street coffee vendors, their relationship evolves rapidly into something vital and sustaining. Determined to keep Javi around, Marcel implores his younger brother, a former boxer turned trainer, to turn Javier into a fighter. Oscar eventually gives in, and pushes the flighty young man towards his debut. But days before the match, Marcel is murdered. Bound together by tragedy and circumstance, Javier and Oscar must decide what they owe and want from each other in Marcel's absence. Raw and unrelenting, HOW TO SHAKE THE OTHER MAN is a bruising portrait of brotherhood and the void of love lost.

    These movements have galvanized long-silent—or silenced—sectors of society: indigenous people, campesinos, students, the LGBT community, the unemployed, and all those left out of the promised utopia of a globalized economy. They have deployed a wide range of strategies and actions, sometimes building schools or clinics, sometimes occupying factories or fields, sometimes organizing political parties to take the reins of the state, and sometimes resisting government policies in order to protect their new-found power in community. This indispensable compilation of primary source material is organized in chapters by country, with each chapter introduced by a solidarity activist, writer, or academic with deep knowledge of the place. It addresses a wide range of issues, from fighting against mines and agribusiness to demanding equal participation through the recognition of language and culture, giving participants, students, and observers of social movements a chance to learn from their experiences.

    The author presents a brief explanation of how these forms are constructed. However, her style is free and, as the title indicates, this book exhales feelings. There are moments of pure happiness and others of deep sadness. It explores the inconsistencies of love - a love affair and unrequited love. Loneliness caresses the verses and leads us down a path of pure reflection and introspection! Most of the book is written without concern about rhyme or meter, but the author achieves a synchronicity and gives us a writing that provides various readings, full of meanings and feelings. Welcome to My Heart brings a selection of beautiful poems, and awesome illustrations in black and white, created by J. P. Andrade, an artist from Rio de Janeiro. It is an invitation to turn off our mind, forget the structured patterns and travel through a Brazilian heart. Good read!

    But he is torn between conventional expectations and following his inner compass. He doesn’t know that his urge to break free from the invisible shackles that bind him will lead to living out every man’s sexual fantasy—and then having to face the consequences. On a business trip to Brazil he meets the intelligent, free-spirited Cece: a beguiling Brazilian woman who turns his world inside out. Despite deep insecurities, Jay accepts Cece’s invitation to be her guest during Carnival in the quaint town of Ajuda, where he finds himself living in close quarters with three stunning Brazilian women. He agonizes over being true to his destiny or to his life as he knew it—a tumultuous psychospiritual journey that eventually liberates him, but at a price. Expect the unexpected in this steamy page-turner about life lessons learned through love, lust, betrayal, surrender, and freedom.

    Chola is a young and innocent woman, born and raised in ultra-conservative, Catholic South America. Hans is a recent immigrant, the handsome son of a wealthy Jewish family from Berlin. Chola doesn't speak a word of German and Hans doesn't speak a word of Spanish. Yet there is a strong attraction that quickly brings them together in marriage. Chola's dreams of happiness are quickly shattered as she finds herself the timid servant to a man she hardly knows and shares neither a common culture or language. Also, Hans refuses to shed the playboy lifestyle he had in the free-spirited Berlin, even for his new bride. Just as young Chola grapples with this dramatic and disappointing change in her life, she faces a new challenge, as Hans' family flees Nazi Germany and heads to South America to live with them. Hans' infidelities and obsession with gambling force Chola to take measures into her own hands as she continues to raise her daughters not to repeat her own mistakes. Even in the face of the ultimate betrayal, she digs in and finds another reason to keep fighting for a better life.