Today on Moldy Used Book Spotlight, we head to Latin America to discuss the young and talented short-story writer, Mexican-born, South African-raised, Valeria Luiselli.
I picked up her book "Sidewalks" in the Mt. Lebanon Library as I got ready for my vacation to visit my extended family in Alabama. It looked interesting and like something that I normally wouldn't read. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. I wonder if they can be classified as short-stories or prose poems? She’s one of those writers where you really can’t tell. Like Claudia Rankine in her award-winning book, "Citizen," which addressed racial issues in contemporary America, the line between prose and poetry is very, very thin.
Jan Beatty, a professor at my college, says that the official difference between poetry and prose is that the poet decides where the line breaks, not the editor. I’m not entirely sure whether or not to believe that -- I think there are a few more differences -- but in cases like this, we would have to ask Luiselli herself if she considers her work poetry or prose.
Her short stories, or collections of prose poems -- whichever one you prefer to interpret them as -- often are told from multiple perspectives, much like Akutagawa’s classic short story, “In a Grove,” where multiple perspectives on the same murder are given. For example, in “Flying Home,” it’s from the perspectives of several different passengers who talk about Mexico City (the place said airplane is going to), travel, history, the human condition and maps. A weird mix, but it works.
In another collection of prose poems (or a short-story, depending on how you look at it), "Manifesto à Velo," Luiselli uses a third-person voice to discuss bicycles and urban living. She does this while referencing famous writers such as Rousseau and Salvador Novo.
Luiselli is a strong, vibrant young voice, but she's an old soul, which I'm sure many readers can relate to. In "Relingos: The Cartography of Empty Space," she discusses her distaste for the over-abundance of technology and the fall of bookstores.
If you feel like reading about an old soul trying to figure out the world around her, with a strong, educated voice and a bite, check out Valeria Luiselli
