Childish Literature
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- 85,00 kr
Publisher Description
“Hopeful, funny, and full of wisdom. A meditation on fatherhood by one of our most perceptive writers.” —Tara Westover, author of Educated
“With playfulness and sharp insight, [Zambra] turns everyday moments into something unforgettable, blending wit and heart in every page.” —Los Angeles Times
"Defies not only conventions of literary masculinity but also an entrenched, persistent vision of fatherhood as part of a man’s private rather than public life.” —The Atlantic
From the author of My Documents and Chilean Poet, a wise, humorous, and captivating literary exploration of the delights and absurdities of childhood, fatherhood, and family life
Childish Literature is a charming and wide-ranging collection of short stories, essays, and even a couple of poems produced under the influence of fatherhood, a transformative experience that reshapes and enlivens the author's relationship to aging, intimacy, and time. Written in Alejandro Zambra’s brilliantly warm, playful, and philosophical voice, these pieces explore the lives of families and their stories through a wide variety of topics—from screen time and "soccer sadness" to personal libraries, fishing, and psychedelics. Throughout, Zambra captures the texture of daily life and deep truths about how we feel and live, with particular insight into the ways parents and children challenge, enrich, and entertain each other.
Simultaneously lighthearted and profound, and brilliantly rendered by National Book Award-winning translator Megan McDowell, Childish Literature is an intimate and unclassifiable new work by an internationally celebrated writer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Zambra (Chilean Poet) considers new fatherhood in this eclectic mix of poetry and prose. The title essay, composed of vignettes addressed to his newborn son, Silvestre, is particularly lovely: "Your arrival forever changes... the meanings of all the words." Several pieces depict the challenges of parenting young children during the Covid-19 lockdowns, as in "Screen Time," a short, humorous story about the lengths to which some adults go to limit their child's television exposure while preserving their own. "Childhood's Childhood" is more reflective, as the author contemplates the origins of childhood memories and whether today's fraught times are worth recording and recalling: "What will my son remember of this horrible year?" he asks himself a year into the Covid-19 pandemic. The nature of memory is a recurring theme, both in Zambra's role as a father chronicling his son's childhood and as a son interrogating his own youthful memories of a misunderstood incident with his father. The repetitions can be taxing, but the author deploys his characteristic charm. Zambra's joy is contagious in this nuanced exploration of "the mysteries of happiness."
