Varamo [Paperback]

Unmistakably the work of C?sar Aira,An avant-garde literature that combines the impossible with the real, a literature in which every statement of fact suggests its opposite and even casual observations and plot twists are turned upside down.Aira's prose can be slapdash, but the book teems with delightful, off-the-cuff metaphysical speculation.Aira's literary significance, like that of many other science fictionwriters, comes from how he pushes us to question the porous line betweenfact and fantasy, to see it not only as malleable in history, but alsoblurred in the everyday. The engrossing power of his work, though, comesfrom how he carries out these feats: with the inexhaustible energy andpleasure of a child chasing after imaginary enemies in the park.The book is structured around a series of chance encounters, while also giving Aira some asides on broader concepts like the nature of perception, the promises of narrative form, and human thought.The novel, in enacting the criticism it mocks, is playful and clever.The latest English translation in Airas enormous corpus,Each element Aira draws our attention to is placed into sharp focus before being discussed in short, entertaining digressions. If anything, the book implies a distrust of the very notion of plot, a comfort with play, and that is why I feel it grasps something of value. Once again Aira has given us a series of memorable, highly interpretable images held together by gossamer strings of meaning.Slim, cerebral, witty, fanciful, and idiosyncratic.With a light, almost hypnotic style, Aira creates an intriguing balance between realism and comedic absurdity.The overriding impression ofThe surprising, magnificent story of a Panamanian government employee who, one day, after a series of troubles, writes the celebrated masterwork of modern Central American poetry.