Luminous Cities

by Eduardo Garcia Aguilar, Jay Miskowiec

Colombian writer Eduardo García Aguilar captures the unseen side of the metropolis, inviting us to join him in the great cities of the world, from Paris, Stockholm and Rome to Mexico City, Antigua and San Francisco, from the garrets of lovers in Europe to the killing fields of civil wars in the Americas, from the beautiful bodies of youth to the nostalgia of old age. We witness these luminous urbs through the eyes of a "professional foreigner." Artist Santiago Rebolledo illustrates each of these stories.

184 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

(Manizales, 1953). Realizó estudios en la Universidad de Vincennes (París viii), hasta 1979, y luego vivió en Estados Unidos y México. En la actualidad, reside en París. Ha publicado las novelas Tierra de leones (1986), Bulevar de los héroes (1987), El viaje triunfal (1993) y Tequila Coxis (2003), así como Urbes luminosas (relatos, 1991), Llanto de la espada (poemas, 1992), Animal sin tiempo (poemas, 2006), Celebraciones y otros fantasmas: una biografía intelectual de Álvaro Mutis (1993), Delirio de San Cristóbal. Manifiesto para una generación desencantada (1998) y Voltaire, el festín de la inteligencia (2005). Varios de sus libros fueron traducidos al inglés, francés y bengalí.

Reviews

[Andrew]

Twelve ratings, one review. WHY ISN’T ANYONE READING THIS?

Nonfiction? Nope. That’s some chicanery, and I’m glad of it. Each story is a perfect little magical realist package. It’s not particularly deep, but it is very very fun, and it works beautifully as a serious of clever little takes. If you, for instance, like Calvino’s Marcovaldo, you’ll be a big fan of Luminous Cities. Let’s get those numbers up.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book from Librarything's advance reader program. Apart from some nice imagery, the book felt like a weak attempt at slipstream with some amateurish artwork thrown in. On top of that, the book's marketed as nonfiction (in my opinion, anyhow). I was hoping for something serious!