A Father Is Born - by Andrés Neuman (Paperback)

About the Book

"A man awaits his son's birth. Captivated, he follows the mother's pregnancy, imagining the child that will transform his house, his language, his relationship, and his family history. For a year, he annotates the memorable first steps leading the three of them into these new existential situations: being a father, a mother, a son; three different characters in a universal story, told in newly born words. A situation further complicated when the child begins speaking and articulating his world. A Father Is Born is a lyrical tale that resonates both on intimate and collective levels. Its understanding of fatherhood faces masculinity with the miracle of life and its incessant rereading of the present. In a time that redefines traditionally attributed roles, A Father Is Born accepts Anne Waldman's invitation: "Tell the man to give up tumult for the while / To wonder at the sight of baby's beauty." But it is also, and above all, a love statement"--

Book Synopsis

The moving story of a man becoming a father, written by the winner of the 2009 Alfaguara Award.

"I am delighted that we are together, my son, becoming what we will both be."

A man awaits his son's birth. Captivated, he follows the mother's pregnancy, imagining the child that will transform his house, his language, his relationship, and his family history. For a year, he annotates the memorable first steps leading the three of them into these new existential situations: being a father, a mother, a son; three different characters in a universal story, told in newly born words. A situation further complicated when the child begins speaking and articulating his world.

A Father Is Born is a lyrical tale that resonates both on intimate and collective levels. Its understanding of fatherhood faces masculinity with the miracle of life and its incessant rereading of the present. In a time that redefines traditionally attributed roles, A Father Is Born accepts Anne Waldman's invitation: "Tell the man to give up tumult for the while / To wonder at the sight of baby's beauty." But it is also, and above all, a love statement.

Review Quotes

"It is impossible to classify Andrés Neuman: each of his books is a new language adventure, guided by the intelligence and the pleasure of words. He never ceases to surprise us and is, doubtlessly, one of the most daring writers in Latin American literature, willing to change, challenge and explore, always with a unique elegance."--Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire

"The literature of the twenty-first century will belong to Neuman and a few of his blood brothers."--Roberto Bolaño

"One of the things I love about Andrés Neuman's work is how he restores writing as the most powerful source of knowledge. Fracture, this dazzling and devastating novel, is a terric demonstration of that."--Alejandro Zambra, author of Ways of Going Home

"Traversing languages and cultures, decades and generations, Fracture unites its many fragments to form a powerful and redemptive vision of a single, and unbroken, human life. A searching, humane, and vital novel."―Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries

About the Author

Andrés Neuman (1977) was selected as one of Granta's "Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists" and was included on the Bogotá-39 list. He is the author of numerous novels, short stories, poems, aphorisms, and travel books, including Traveler of the Century, Talking to Ourselves, The Things We Don't Do, and Fracture. His works have been translated into twenty-two languages.

Robin Myers is a poet, translator, essayist, and 2023 NEA Translation Fellow. Her latest translations include Last Date in El Zapotal by Mateo García Elizondo (Charco Press), A Strange Adventure by Eva Forest (Sternberg Press), What Comes Back by Javier Peñalosa M. (Copper Canyon Press); The Brush by Eliana Hernández-Pachón (Archipelago Books); and Bariloche (Open Letter Books) and Love Training (Deep Vellum Publishing), both by Andrés Neuman.