Writers from the Americas Reading One Another

It is commonly assumed that the United States and Latin America, culturally so different, move artistically to very different rhythms. Also common is the assumption that, with rare exception, the literary figures on one side of the global North/South divide have had little interest in the work of their counterparts. With Mutual Impressions Ilan Stavans dispels these notions by showing how solid the bridges between writers and across borders have been, at least since the early days of this century, and how crucial they are likely to become as we enter the next millennium.

Divided into symmetrical halves—South reading North and North reading South—the book presents essays by leading novelists, poets, and other writers that focus on the work of another literary figure from across the divide. Borges, for example, finds in Hawthorne the perfect precursor to his own interest in allegories; Katherine Anne Porter examines José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi as a rascal whose picaresque views of life in The Itching Parrot served to launch the Latin American novel; Cortázar’s study of the plots and style of Poe shows an affinity that left an indelible mark on the Argentine’s short fiction; Susan Sontag views Machado de Assis as the ultimate mirror, a proto–postmodernist.

With other essays by Thomas Pynchon, William H. Gass, John Updike, Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier, John Barth, Robert Coover, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Grace Paley, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Mark Strand, among others, Mutual Impressions offers a remarkable view of the connections that comprise a literary tradition of the Americas. It is a book that will surprise and enliven its readers as it informs and awakens in them a sense of wonder.

Contributors. John Barth, José Bianco, Robert Bly, Jorge Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier, Hiber Conteris, Robert Coover, Julio Cortázar, Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Waldo Frank, Carlos Fuentes, William H. Gass, Nicolás Guillén, William Kennedy, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, José Martí, Pablo Neruda, Victoria Ocampo, Juan Carlos Onetti, Grace Paley, Octavio Paz, Katherine Anne Porter, Thomas Pynchon, Kenneth Rexroth, Antonio Benítez Rojo, Barbara Probst Solomon, Susan Sontag, Ilan Stavans, Mark Strand, John Updike, Pedro Henríque Ureña, Derek Walcott, Paul West

Review

“[A] fascinating anthology . . . valuable to anyone interested in inter-American cultural relations, comparative literature, and good writing. Each author and subject is introduced with a brief biography and there is an excellent index.” — Bernard Mergen , American Studies International

“[T]his anthology offers sharp, eclectic perceptions about writing and place in the limpid language that all critics, even academics, could emulate.” — Jason Wilson , TLS

“Academics may have studied Whitman’s impact on Latin America and so forth, but Stavans offers a sample of the lived connections between two cultures as revealed by what writers north and south of la frontera have made of each other. . . . It’s a neat idea. Since the Macondo of One Hundred Years of Solitude replicates the Yoknapatawpha of The Sound and the Fury, what could be better than to hear Márquez on Faulkner?” — Geoff Dyer , Bookforum

“This anthology probes literary connections between North and South American authors. . . . Readers encountering these essays for the first time will be inspired, no doubt, to read the bodies of literature represented here.” — , Library Journal

“This exquisite collection of literary criticism . . . offers beautifully rendered pieces by and about the most distinguished writers from the Americas.” — , Publishers Weekly

“This is not a boring textbook of ivory tower papers, but a spirited journey into the world of writers enjoying one another and having an impact on each other. The book would be sure to spark interesting dialogue in a Latin American or cross-cultural literature class or seminar.” — Christine Canfield , Foreword Reviews

“This wonderfully complex volume compels us to think about linguistic borders, narcissistic reading, and selfish reflections. I salute Stavans; he recognizes that we ‘bridge’ word and world.” — Irving Malin , Review of Contemporary Fiction

"This masterfully chosen collection of essays on various authors and their works shows just how solid these connections have been, at least since the early days of the twentieth century." — Latin American Research Review