Points of Departure

by Mónica Lavín, Gustavo V. Segade

Points of Departure brings together seventeen Mexican authors born in the 1950s and 1960s, most of whom had never before been published in English. Magical realism and exoticism are nowhere to be found in this collection of sophisticated, very contemporary stories. Rather, the surreal contradictions and juxtapositions of daily life in Mexico are a permeating presence. A sharp sense of irony, incongruity and hilarity pervades many of the scenarios offered here, along with an acid-tongued fatalism in the face of a reality where poverty, lawlessness and urban decay coexist alongside innocent dreams of love. By Bernardo Ruíz, Josefina Estrada, Rafael Pérez Gay, Humberto Rivas, Daniel Sada, Rosa Beltrán, David Toscana, Juan Villoro, Mónica Lavín, Juvenal Acosta, Álvaro Uribe, Rosina Conde, Eduardo Antonio Parra, Mauricio Montiel, Ethel Krauze, Enrique Serna, Francisco Hinojosa "A satisfying collection of 17 short stories by as many writers, all born in the 1950s and 1960s. . . . A fine collection."— Kirkus Review Gustavo Segade is Emeritus Professor of Spanish at San Diego State University. He has translated the work of many South American and Mexican writers, including Olga Orozco, Alberto Blanco, Rosina Conde, Sergio Elizondo, Mónica Lavín and Daniel Sada. Mónica Lavin (Mexico City) is a writer and journalist, a dedicated cultural organizer and commentator, and president of the Association of Ibero-American Writers.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[John]

Stories Read:
"Coyote" - Juan Villoro
"Enrique Serna" - Self Love
"The Big Brush" - David Toscana
"The Basilisk"- Daniel Sada



Most of the writers I expected to deliver did. Juan Villoro's Coyote is amazing. Enrique Serna's Self-Love is great...and seriously creepy. Daniel Sada's piece is kind of weak, but some other good stories in the mix make up for it.

[Chuck]

Interesting, quirky stories. A few seemed a little too academic.

[Daniel Polansky]

An anthology of stories from recent-ish Mexcian authors. I’m not sure how you review an anthology, frankly. Some of these were very good. Some of them were less so. Generally, the quality was very high, I picked up a couple of authors whose works I’ll be exploring in the weeks to come.