Portland Public Library

How to travel without seeing, dispatches from the new Latin America, Andrés Neuman ; translated by Jeffrey Lawrence

eng

no index present

non fiction

How to travel without seeing

930828666

Andrés Neuman ; translated by Jeffrey Lawrence

dispatches from the new Latin America

Lamenting not having more time to get to know each of the nineteen countries he visits after winning the prestigious Premio Alfaguara, Andrés Neuman begins to suspect that world travel consists mostly of "not seeing." But then he realizes that the fleeting nature of his trip provides him with a unique opportunity: touring and comparing every country of Latin America in a single stroke. Neuman writes on the move, generating a kinetic work that is at once puckish and poetic, aphoristic and brimming with curiosity. Even so-called non-places--airports, hotels, taxis--are turned into powerful symbols full of meaning. A dual Argentine-Spanish citizen, he incisively explores cultural identity and nationality, immigration and globalization, history and language, and turbulent current events. Above all, Neuman investigates the artistic lifeblood of Latin America, tackling with gusto not only literary heavyweights such as Bolaño, Vargas Llosa, Lorca, and Galeano, but also an emerging generation of authors and filmmakers whose impact is now making ripples worldwide

Welcome aboard: how to travel without seeing -- The airport, a homeland in transit -- Buenos Aires, the virus of the apocalypse -- Montevideo, mate in the cathedral -- Santiago, the self-absorbed order -- Asunción, holes and questions -- La Paz, how to climb history -- Lima, club and copy -- Quite, volcanoes, and dividers -- Caracas, the horse before the mirror -- Bogotá, what a shame about Congress -- Mexico City, successful catastrophes -- Guatemala City, bullets and kites -- Tegucigalpa, what I couldn't see -- Miami, beyond the palm trees -- San Juan, complementary and under construction -- Santo Domingo, the cardinal in the tunnel -- Panama, permanently temporary -- San Salvador, years of tremors -- San José, instructions for getting lost -- Goodbye: writing causes travel