• A Practical Guide to Levitation
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Archipelago Books

A Practical Guide to Levitation

A Practical Guide to Levitation

by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn

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On the sands of Itamaracá, an old fisherman dreams of fish: shad in the morning, when the water’s smooth and silvery, the Atlantic tarpon after it rains, and a jack when the sea goes blue. Elsewhere, Borges sulks away in a plantation of neverending banana tree, and the president of the United States wakes from a coma speaking only Portuguese. Vividly translated by long-time Agualusa collaborator Daniel Hahn, the jewel-like tales gathered in this collection are an exuberant celebration of story-telling in all its various forms. With “the lyrical experimentalism and unabashed weirdness of the surrealist” (The Arts Desk), Agualusa offers a sly wink to the fictional quality inherent in all narratives, whether they’re fishermen’s tales, national histories, or the stories we tell ourselves.

Additional Book Information

Series: Archipelago Books
ISBN: 9781953861627
Pages: 256
Publication Date:

Praise

This astonishing collection by Angolan writer Agualusa brims with imagination . . . Often mordantly funny . . . Agualusa’s wondrous tales balance fantasy with skillful historical storytelling and a palpable distaste for the politics of oppression.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Agualusa’s amused take on eccentric behaviors and unaccountable obsesssions – his tone of momentary acceptance of the weird or uncanny in ordinary encounters – reminds me of the crónica genre in Spanish- and Portuguese-language newspapers . . . From beginning to end, each story here sparkles with wit, empathy, and blunt honesty.
—Ron Slate, On the Seawall

Mysterious events in Agualusa’s stories reveal a kinship with García Márquez, whereas events of mysterious ambiguity fall into Bolaño’s camp . . . Daniel Hahn’s translation successfully conveys that straight-faced equanimity needed for staring absurdities in the eyes.
—Tom Bowden, The Book Beat

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