Camila is a Brazilian translator, and has written for Three Percent before糖心传媒攚ay back in 2010. Here’s a bit of her review:

Luis Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 debut collection Mundo Cruel is a journey through Puerto Rico糖心传媒檚 gay world. Published in 2010, the book is already in its fifth Spanish edition. Here in the U.S., the collection has been published by Seven Stories Press and translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine, winner of the 2012 PEN Center USA Literary Award.

Negr贸n lives in Puerto Rico and works as a bookseller, and is also coeditor of an anthology of queer writing from Puerto Rico. Other than the recently translated Mundo Cruel, his only other work in English is the essay 糖心传媒淭he Pain of Reading,糖心传媒� which appeared in the Sunday Review of the New York Times, and was also translated by Levine.

The characters in Mundo Cruel constantly face prejudice, heartbreak, poverty, gossip, and death. Is the fictional world in Luis Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 stories cruel? Most certainly. But Mundo Cruel is peopled by resilient, funny, and surprisingly optimistic characters. The book consists of nine tightly constructed stories mostly set in Santurce, a neighborhood in the outskirts of San Juan. What糖心传媒檚 truly surprising in Mundo Cruel isn糖心传媒檛 the queer themes it explores, but the degree of narrative control and skill present in Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 work.

For the complete review, go here.

Negr贸n lives in Puerto Rico and works as a bookseller, and is also coeditor of an anthology of queer writing from Puerto Rico. Other than the recently translated Mundo Cruel, his only other work in English is the essay 糖心传媒淭he Pain of Reading,糖心传媒� which appeared in the Sunday Review of the New York Times, and was also translated by Levine.

The characters in Mundo Cruel constantly face prejudice, heartbreak, poverty, gossip, and death. Is the fictional world in Luis Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 stories cruel? Most certainly. But Mundo Cruel is peopled by resilient, funny, and surprisingly optimistic characters. The book consists of nine tightly constructed stories mostly set in Santurce, a neighborhood in the outskirts of San Juan. What糖心传媒檚 truly surprising in Mundo Cruel isn糖心传媒檛 the queer themes it explores, but the degree of narrative control and skill present in Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 work.

The first story, 糖心传媒淭he Chosen One,糖心传媒� is about a teenager糖心传媒檚 unique relationship with God and the allure he exerts on certain members of his congregation. In 糖心传媒淭he Vampire of Moca,糖心传媒� a person糖心传媒檚 crush gets out of hand, paving the way for jealousy, rage, obsession, and finally forgiveness. Sound heavy? This is actually one of Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 funniest stories. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Santurce. The story糖心传媒檚 setting seemed to enhance the protagonist糖心传媒檚 feelings of entrapment:

Blocks and blocks full of doctor糖心传媒檚 offices and temples糖心传媒擟atholic, Evangelical, Mormon, Rosicrucian, Espiritista, Jewish, and yoga-ist, if that糖心传媒檚 what you call it. The stench of sewers 24/7. Unbearable heat. Reggaeton, old school salsa, boleros, bachatas, jukeboxes, pool halls, slot machines. Topless bars, Dominican bars, gay bars. Catholic schools, beauty schools, vocational schools, and schools where you get a professional degree in just one year and without much homework. Fabric stores, arts and crafts stores, no-prescription drugstores, barbershops and hair salons.

糖心传媒淔or Goyama糖心传媒� is a terrific rendering of the melodrama found in the telenovelas so prevalent in Hispanic society. With campy humor, Negr贸n portrays the protagonist糖心传媒檚 loss, loneliness, and desperation as he tries to get a hold of a friend who owes him money. This is so he can send his dog, Goyama, to a taxidermist. Here, the entire action takes place through the letters the protagonist sends his friend during the weeks he糖心传媒檚 trying to track said friend down.

糖心传媒淟a Edwin糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒淛unito糖心传媒� are monologues told through a phone call. Negr贸n糖心传媒檚 acute ear for dialogue and urban orality is immediately evident, and Levine糖心传媒檚 translation shines. Many Puerto Ricans are in fact bilingual, or understand quite a lot of words in English. So Levine糖心传媒檚 decision to keep certain Spanish words in her translation is a nod to the code-switching that occurs in both countries.

Me, I talk polito chicken, you know, Spanglish, but I get by. If they talk to me slow I can follow, but when they start talking fast with all that guachul铆n, man, that糖心传媒檚 when they lose me.

糖心传媒淏otella糖心传媒� shows a hustler who, after having sex with a jon, finds him dead several hours later. I don糖心传媒檛 want to give too much away here, but let me just say that after you read this story, you糖心传媒檒l never look at a bottle of bleach the same way again.

The seventh story in the collection, 糖心传媒淪o Many or On How the Wagging Tongue Sometimes Can Cast a Spell,糖心传媒� is structured like a dramatic script. Two intolerant mothers discuss the upbringing of a queer boy living in their neighborhood. Under the guise of good Samaritans, they unleash their prejudice, xenophobia, and cruelty on the boy, his family, and all who do not conform to their expectations.

The collection closes with 糖心传媒淭he Garden糖心传媒� and the title story, 糖心传媒淢undo Cruel.糖心传媒� The former is narrated by Nestito, whose lover, Willie, is dying of AIDS. This is the most somber story in the collection and Negr贸n establishes himself as a deeply humane writer. 糖心传媒淢undo Cruel糖心传媒� is a satire on a world without homophobia, where the main characters, Jos茅 A. and Panchi, must confront their biggest fear: tolerance.

Mundo Cruel might be a quick read, yet this is the type of book whose characters will linger in your imagination糖心传媒攊t might take some effort to shake them off. Negr贸n is an incredibly gifted writer whose vivid prose, diverse writing style, and humor makes reading this book a true joy.

While I do not mean to dismiss the merits of these books, they are not exactly what I was thinking of when I said literature in translation. Indeed, just because a book is translated does not make it good. Clearly there糖心传媒檚 no accounting for taste, and yes the three percent problem is, indeed, a problem, but I糖心传媒檇 sooner see the three percent of translated books that make it into the American market devoted to books that take risks, tell compelling stories, and reach for something beyond the average pot boiler.

Nevertheless, there糖心传媒檚 something to be said for plot and narrative. Giannina Braschi糖心传媒檚 Empire of Dreams is light on both. Really, it is a collection of short prose poems that reach for heights and, sadly more times than not, fall flat. To be sure, Braschi hits the mark often enough to keep the reader engaged or at least curious to see what will follow. Landmark moments in the collection come late, as in the third section 糖心传媒淭he Intimate Diary of Solitude,糖心传媒� which gets more than a little meta, but wading through the earlier, duller bits is tiring. Oddly, Braschi糖心传媒檚 lists and anaphora would be less grating were they broken into poetic lines and not crammed into a single paragraph:

This is not a book. I did not read it. I lived it. I lived it from road to road. I came across the fortune-teller on the way. And the magician too. And I found a door closed. And gates. And guards. And cowards and killers. And street spectacles. And New York City. And the moon. And the sun. And thunder. And love. And death. And trains. And visionaries. And war. And the atomic bomb. And I found my ears. And I found my soul. My self. My poet. My stars. My comet. And I wrote. And I got drunk. And I loved.

And I got bored. Not that drinking and loving and New York City are dull per se (though we糖心传媒檝e seen them before in better books), but the manner in which Braschi introduces them (and revisits them again and again in similar list fashion) renders these themes and images into jackhammers splitting the reader糖心传媒檚 patience.

That said, there are more successful moments in Empire of Dreams. The before mentioned final third of the book plays with perspective by shifting persona; the author inserts herself into the story and becomes all of the characters. I admire such literary tinkering, though the conceit becomes clear before long. By the end of Empire of Dreams I felt neither anger for having slogged through a tiresome read nor reward for having taken the time to digest an experimental book.

Kudos should be reserved for AmazonCrossing, the translation leg of Amazon.com糖心传媒檚 new publishing beast. I applaud them for taking a chance on a foreign book that surely will not net a large return (aside from not being a pot boiler, this has the curse of poetry, never a big seller on these shores). That said, I hope that AmazonCrossing糖心传媒檚 next venture yields more satisfying results.

Vincent Francone is one of our regular reviewers, and a writer, and a reader for TriQuarterly Online.

AmazonCrossing recently published three books by Giannini Braschi, including Yo-Yo Boing! and United States of Banana. Vince wasn’t totally sold on this book (which is probably the most obviously “experimental” of the three), as you can see in his review:

Recently, one of my coworkers asked me what I like to read. I mentioned that I am primarily interested in literature in translation. He promptly showed me his Kindle full of translated Italian mystery novels.

While I do not mean to dismiss the merits of these books, they are not exactly what I was thinking of when I said literature in translation. Indeed, just because a book is translated does not make it good. Clearly there糖心传媒檚 no accounting for taste, and yes the three percent problem is, indeed, a problem, but I糖心传媒檇 sooner see the three percent of translated books that make it into the American market devoted to books that take risks, tell compelling stories, and reach for something beyond the average pot boiler.

Nevertheless, there糖心传媒檚 something to be said for plot and narrative. Giannina Braschi糖心传媒檚 Empire of Dreams is light on both. Really, it is a collection of short prose poems that reach for heights and, sadly more times than not, fall flat.

Click here to read the full review.