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Library Journal Review

This collection of 35 short stories, which Jodorowsky calls "Fables and Short Stories of Political and Fantastic Content," reflect the attempts of many Latin American writers to make sense of the brutal history of dictatorships in their countries. A Chilean actor, mime, playwright, and filmmaker, Jodorowsky wrote some of the stories in Chile during the 1950s; the others, he explains in his "Memorandum," are chapters removed from his novels at the last minute. The book opens with "El ladron de voces" ("The Robber of Voices"), the story of a woman who loses her voice when she sees her husband taken by the police. In desperation, their only son develops magic powers and, after trying to steal someone else's voice, gives his mother his own. Another fantastic story, "Arde, bruja, arde" ("Burn, Witch, Burn"), tells the story of a nun who is sentenced to the fire. She burns for several days without dying until the people of the town liberate her. The book loses a great deal of its force in the second half, where the stories become repetitive, with "Zipelbrum" echoing "El ladron de voces," for instance. Overall, however, the general theme of protagonists fighting for survival in an extremely disturbed world gives a mysterious and compelling tone to the narrative and allows for the reader's identification with the characters. Recommended for bookstores and academic and public libraries. Lourdes Vzquez, Rutgers Univ. Lib., New Brunswick, NJ(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.