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A Dream Come True: The Collected Stories of Juan Carlos Onetti
A Dream Come True collects the complete stories of Juan Carlos Onetti, presenting his existentialist, complex, and ironic style over the course of his writing career. Onetti was praised by Latin America's greatest authors, and regarded as an inventor of a new form and school of writing.
Juan Carlos Onetti's A Dream Come True depicts a sharp, coherent, literary voice, encompassing Onetti's early stages of writing and his later texts. They span from a few pages in "Avenida de Mayo - Diagonal - Avenida de Mayo" to short novellas, like the celebrated detective story "The Face of Disgrace" and "Death and the Girl," an existential masterpiece that explores the complexity of violence and murder in the mythical town of Santa María. His stories create a world of writing which is both universal and highly local, mediating between philosophical characters and the quotidian melodrama of Uruguayan villages.
Juan Carlos Onetti's A Dream Come True depicts a sharp, coherent, literary voice, encompassing Onetti's early stages of writing and his later texts. They span from a few pages in "Avenida de Mayo - Diagonal - Avenida de Mayo" to short novellas, like the celebrated detective story "The Face of Disgrace" and "Death and the Girl," an existential masterpiece that explores the complexity of violence and murder in the mythical town of Santa María. His stories create a world of writing which is both universal and highly local, mediating between philosophical characters and the quotidian melodrama of Uruguayan villages.
424 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2019
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538 people want to read
About the author
Juan Carlos Onetti
146 books385 followersJuan Carlos Onetti (July 1, 1909, Montevideo – May 30, 1994, Madrid) was an Uruguayan novelist and author of short stories.
A high school drop-out, Onetti's first novel, El pozo, published in 1939, met with his close friends' immediate acclaim, as well as from some writers and journalists of his time. 500 copies of the book were printed, most of them left to rot at the only bookstore that sold it, Barreiro (the book was not reprinted until the 60's, with an introduction and preliminary study by Ángel Rama). Aged 30, Onetti was already working as editing secretary of the famous weekly Uruguayan newspaper Marcha. He had lived for some years in Buenos Aires, where he published short stories and wrote cinema critiques for the local media, and met and befriended the notorious novelist and journalist, Roberto Arlt ("El juguete rabioso", "Los siete locos", "Los lanzallamas").
He went on to become one of Latin America's most distinguished writers, earning Uruguay's National Prize in literature in 1962. In 1974, he and some of his colleagues were imprisoned by the military dictatorship. Their crime: as members of the jury, they had chosen Nelson Marra's short story El guardaespaldas (i.e. "The bodyguard") as the winner of Marcha's annual literary contest. Due to a series of misunderstandings (and the need to fill some space in the following day's edition), El guardaespaldas was published in Marcha, although it had been widely agreed among them that they shouldn't and wouldn't do so, knowing this would be the perfect excuse for the military to intervene Marcha, considering the subject of the story (the interior monologue of a top-rank military officer who recounts his murders and atrocious behavior, much as it was happening with the functioning regime).
Onetti left his native country (and his much-loved city of Montevideo) after being imprisoned for 6 months in Colonia Etchepare, a mental institution. A long list of world-famous writers -including Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Mario Benedetti - signed open letters addressed to the military government of Uruguay, which was unaware of the talented (and completely harmless) writer it had imprisoned and humiliated.
As soon as he was released, Onetti fled to Spain with his wife, violin player Dorotea Mühr. There he continued his career as a writer, being awarded the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world, the Premio Cervantes. He remained in Madrid until his death in 1994. He is interred in the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid.
A high school drop-out, Onetti's first novel, El pozo, published in 1939, met with his close friends' immediate acclaim, as well as from some writers and journalists of his time. 500 copies of the book were printed, most of them left to rot at the only bookstore that sold it, Barreiro (the book was not reprinted until the 60's, with an introduction and preliminary study by Ángel Rama). Aged 30, Onetti was already working as editing secretary of the famous weekly Uruguayan newspaper Marcha. He had lived for some years in Buenos Aires, where he published short stories and wrote cinema critiques for the local media, and met and befriended the notorious novelist and journalist, Roberto Arlt ("El juguete rabioso", "Los siete locos", "Los lanzallamas").
He went on to become one of Latin America's most distinguished writers, earning Uruguay's National Prize in literature in 1962. In 1974, he and some of his colleagues were imprisoned by the military dictatorship. Their crime: as members of the jury, they had chosen Nelson Marra's short story El guardaespaldas (i.e. "The bodyguard") as the winner of Marcha's annual literary contest. Due to a series of misunderstandings (and the need to fill some space in the following day's edition), El guardaespaldas was published in Marcha, although it had been widely agreed among them that they shouldn't and wouldn't do so, knowing this would be the perfect excuse for the military to intervene Marcha, considering the subject of the story (the interior monologue of a top-rank military officer who recounts his murders and atrocious behavior, much as it was happening with the functioning regime).
Onetti left his native country (and his much-loved city of Montevideo) after being imprisoned for 6 months in Colonia Etchepare, a mental institution. A long list of world-famous writers -including Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Mario Benedetti - signed open letters addressed to the military government of Uruguay, which was unaware of the talented (and completely harmless) writer it had imprisoned and humiliated.
As soon as he was released, Onetti fled to Spain with his wife, violin player Dorotea Mühr. There he continued his career as a writer, being awarded the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world, the Premio Cervantes. He remained in Madrid until his death in 1994. He is interred in the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 12, 2021
Reading this collection was like nibbling on a rich chocolate cake for several months. It was challenging, it was rewarding. I watched Free Solo at one point while reading this and letssss just say it wasn't hard for me to empathize with Alex and his 3000-foot walls.
What was particularly cool was that these stories spanned Onnetti's entire writing career, from the 30s to the 90s. This created an interesting meta-reading experience where we could see the major elements of life itself play out over the course of his stories. Weird explorations of politics fade to weird explorations of sex fade to weird explorations of cohabitation (especially lack thereof) fade to weird explorations of death. Throughout it all is an ever-present machismo (and like, a -weird- fascination with fascism) (I mean there also are a lot of stories with queer themes and he's definitely critical of humanity's worst impulses, so it's complicated), so this book is not a blanket recommendation, but it's a fun one if you have lots of time and concentration to spare and are down to explore a misanthropic psyche.
What was particularly cool was that these stories spanned Onnetti's entire writing career, from the 30s to the 90s. This created an interesting meta-reading experience where we could see the major elements of life itself play out over the course of his stories. Weird explorations of politics fade to weird explorations of sex fade to weird explorations of cohabitation (especially lack thereof) fade to weird explorations of death. Throughout it all is an ever-present machismo (and like, a -weird- fascination with fascism) (I mean there also are a lot of stories with queer themes and he's definitely critical of humanity's worst impulses, so it's complicated), so this book is not a blanket recommendation, but it's a fun one if you have lots of time and concentration to spare and are down to explore a misanthropic psyche.
October 5, 2020
This was a library copy that I needed to return before I was able to do a complete reading.
Juan Carlos Onetti is considered a seminal writer of the South American 20 century, emulated by Cortazar, a contemporary of Borges, and in this edition endorsed with comments by Anonio Munoz Molina (whose Sepharad is a favorite of mine), Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes.
This collection spans his career from 1933 to 1987.
The Possible Baldi is about a hustler who manipulates a streetwalker as she strolls the streets of Montevideo looking for her next mark.
In The Perfect Crime a man kills his cousin whom he owes money to, but his getting away with it becomes a total mess.
In A Dream Come True , a mysterious woman hires a down and out theater director to stage a scene from an eerie dream she had.
In Back To The South, a nephew relates his uncle's last year. Heartbroken when his younger girlfriend leaves him, the lonely Uncle deteriorates, all the while hoping and imagining he will be reunited.
In Jacob And The Other, an untrustworthy promotor, puts on a wrestling match in which he hopes to make a quick hit and then high tail it out of town; the best laid plans of mice and men.
These are all entertaining tales, rich with characters who are street wise, looking for their best shot, often to be unfulfilled and disappointed. Onetti, spent most of his life in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and after the military juntas as an émigré in Spain. He captures his place and time, I often recalled the streets of Buenos Aires, its café life, style and mystique. In this context I was often reminded of Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi by H. Bustos Domecq ( a pseudonym for the collaborative writers Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares).
Juan Carlos Onetti a South American maestro, this collection is a great reflection of his career and influence.
Juan Carlos Onetti is considered a seminal writer of the South American 20 century, emulated by Cortazar, a contemporary of Borges, and in this edition endorsed with comments by Anonio Munoz Molina (whose Sepharad is a favorite of mine), Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes.
This collection spans his career from 1933 to 1987.
The Possible Baldi is about a hustler who manipulates a streetwalker as she strolls the streets of Montevideo looking for her next mark.
In The Perfect Crime a man kills his cousin whom he owes money to, but his getting away with it becomes a total mess.
In A Dream Come True , a mysterious woman hires a down and out theater director to stage a scene from an eerie dream she had.
In Back To The South, a nephew relates his uncle's last year. Heartbroken when his younger girlfriend leaves him, the lonely Uncle deteriorates, all the while hoping and imagining he will be reunited.
In Jacob And The Other, an untrustworthy promotor, puts on a wrestling match in which he hopes to make a quick hit and then high tail it out of town; the best laid plans of mice and men.
These are all entertaining tales, rich with characters who are street wise, looking for their best shot, often to be unfulfilled and disappointed. Onetti, spent most of his life in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and after the military juntas as an émigré in Spain. He captures his place and time, I often recalled the streets of Buenos Aires, its café life, style and mystique. In this context I was often reminded of Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi by H. Bustos Domecq ( a pseudonym for the collaborative writers Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares).
Juan Carlos Onetti a South American maestro, this collection is a great reflection of his career and influence.
November 3, 2019
This was hard work, to say the least. As much as I dislike ditching compilations, for the permanent sense of 'there's something better just over this hill', this had just mountain after mountain. I was well over halfway, and I had seen a progression from the horridly obtuse openings to the more clear narratives, but I still had made positive notes about only two of the tales. Yup, two. This is a mammoth 'complete works', as well, which just goes to show. I might then have missed some classics in what remained, but the idea of a fourth evening ruined by this dross really did not appeal. Funny, that.
February 18, 2020
Disjointed and difficult to follow in the early stories ( this book is arranged chronologically) ... but, with “Welcome, Bob” of 1944, the author hits his stride, finds his voice, and tho’ still surrealist, plots his tales more clearly ... driven from his home in Montevideo by an oppressive regime, the author found a home in post-Franco Spain ... he died in Spain in 1994 ...
May 28, 2024
Doubtful I'll ever read this cover to cover, but I revisit one story again and again every few months. It's Most Dreaded Hell, and couldn't be more aptly named. The prose is not so hard to pin down as the others, but still has that quality of feeling as though you're eaves dropping on a gossip session, stitching together the missing details and motives as you go. At work our hero receives an anonymous letter: inside which a polaroid of his ex appears naked with another man. He tries to ignore it, but as the story continues so do the letters, each one more risqué than the last. The relationship is recounted and in the end it's up to the reader to interpreter whether the hero has achieved a level of radical acceptance or lost his mind. I'm not even sure the resolution is clearly stated in the text. Troubling indeed.
May 5, 2022
The collected stories of Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti can be divided into two parts: those before the mid-60s and those that follow. Five stars to the early stories: they are closely observed, subtly emotional, and moving. They often play with identity, sexual and otherwise.
Two stars at best to the later stories, which seem to fall into a morass, where obscurity is used to give the impression of depth. They become muddled and confusing in a way popular in the era among "post modern" artists and intellectuals. The stories from the author's final years just seem incomplete and weak. There are also throughout the stories more than a strong hint of misogyny, though it is unclear whether it belongs to the author or to the South American world he depicts.
Two stars at best to the later stories, which seem to fall into a morass, where obscurity is used to give the impression of depth. They become muddled and confusing in a way popular in the era among "post modern" artists and intellectuals. The stories from the author's final years just seem incomplete and weak. There are also throughout the stories more than a strong hint of misogyny, though it is unclear whether it belongs to the author or to the South American world he depicts.
September 5, 2025
Primer cuento que leo de Onetti, y honestamente me gustó demasiado, aunque siendo franco, me dejó pensativo el final, ya que es un final abierto. Me gustó mucho en si la trama y como va avanzando en si, todo empieza con una broma, pero termina con un final súper trágico. Es una metáfora acerca de que cumplir nuestros propios sueños sale caro.
July 26, 2022
Willfully obscure.
November 11, 2023
Did I buy this???🤪
Hmm, it's getting better but I still am shocked by some of the characters. Are they human? Surely, yes but not of a type regularly found.
I have not read the complete book. I'll take it up some other time. I did read with pleasure his later work, often very short pieces..
Hmm, it's getting better but I still am shocked by some of the characters. Are they human? Surely, yes but not of a type regularly found.
I have not read the complete book. I'll take it up some other time. I did read with pleasure his later work, often very short pieces..
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews