March 2023 MBR The Literary Fiction Shelf

The Literary Fiction Shelf

Charles Portis: Collected Works
Jay Jennings, editor
The Library of America
www.loa.org
9781598537468, $45.00, HC, 1216pp

https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Portis-Collected-Atlantis-Writings/dp/1598537466

Synopsis: The late Charles Portis (December 28, 1933 - February 17, 2020) is the author of five novels, a handful of short stories, a play, and several essays, along with journalism written early in his career. His debut novel, Norwood, was published in 1966 and was made into a movie in 1970. His second and best-known novel, True Grit, has been twice adapted for the screen, most recently by the Coen brothers in 2010; in 2013 it was named a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Library Selection.

An example of the quality of his fiction -- Twice adapted as a film, first in a version starring John Wayne and then by the Coen Brothers, his novel "True Grit" is a wonder of literary perfection, told in the unforgettable voice of 14-year-old Mattie Ross as she sets out to avenge her murdered father in a quest that brings her out of her native Arkansas and into the wilds of the Choctaw Nation of the 1870s.

Critique: Under the deft editorship of Jay Jennings, "Charles Portis: Collected Works: Norwood / True Grit / The Dog of the South / Masters of Atlantis / Gringos / Stories & Other Writings" is a magnificent compendium of his fiction, as well as a gathering of his nonfiction that collectively reveal his impressive skills as a reporter, including his coverage of the Civil Rights Movement; his appreciation of Arkansas history and landscape, as in "The Forgotten River"; and his poignancy as a family memoirist, on display in his recollection "Combinations of Jacksons". This edition of "Charles Portis: Collected Works" from The Library of America, is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Literary Studies collections

Someone Speaks Your Name
Luis Garcia Montero, author
Katie King, translator
Swan Isle Press
https://swanislepress.com
c/o University of Chicago Press
www.press.uchicago.edu
9781736189344, $28.00, PB, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Someone-Speaks-Your-Garc%C3%ADa-Montero/dp/1736189344

Synopsis: It's the summer of 1963 and Leon Egea, a cocky nineteen-year-old student and aspiring author, has just finished his first year studying literature at the University of Granada and is starting a summer job as an encyclopedia salesman. Leon, infuriated by the injustices in Spanish society under the Franco dictatorship, comes to find that literature can speak the truth when the reality is clouded. Leon discovers that, under the repressive Franco dictatorship, people, places, and events are not always what they seem. But literature, words, and names can open paths to discovery, both personal and political.

"Someone Speaks Your Name" deftly explores literature as a foundation for understanding human relationships, national character, discrete differences between right and wrong, and for pursuing the path forward. As Leon's professor tells him: "Learning to write is learning to see."

Critique: Very ably translated into English by Katie King, "Someone Speaks Your Name" is coming-of-age novel by renowned Spanish writer Luis Garcia Montero that will have immense appeal to readers with an interest in literary fiction with political and historical themes. Featuring a memorably lyrical, exceptionally eloquent, and compelling narrative driven storytelling style, "Someone Speaks Your Name" is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community/academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections,

Editorial Note #1: Luis Garcia Montero is a Spanish writer whose work includes poetry, novels, essays, song lyrics, and literary scholarship. He spearheaded a literary movement in Spain known as the Poetry of Experience and is head of Spain's Instituto Cervantes. He has an informative page on Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garc%C3%ADa_Montero

Editorial Note #2: Katie King (https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/translator/katie-king) is a journalist, media executive, literary translator, and translation scholar. She has collaborated with Garcia Montero for more than a decade.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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