La Feria (Novela) / The Fair (a Novel) - by Juan José Arreola (Paperback)

About the Book

A tour of Zapotlâan el Grande with the help of its inhabitants. Arreola, one of the best short fiction writers in Mexico, offers us in The Fair, a phenomenal text that belongs to the genre of pocket apocalypses. Its pages collect fragments, textual or deformed, of the most varied oral and written tradition, coming above all from Ezekiel and Isaiah, from the Apocrypha, from the colonial cartulary and from the annals of an imagined town in the south of Jalisco. These are actually pure childhood memories, of things read, seen and heard, placed one after another, at random. Fidelity to popular twists and the magical realism of certain characters are perhaps the best qualities of this messy, multiple and singular, short and abundant book.

Book Synopsis

Un recorrido por Zapotlán el Grande de la mano de sus habitantes

Arreola, uno de los mejores escritores de ficción breve de México, nos ofrece en La feria, un texto fenomenal que pertenece al género de los Apocalipsis de bolsillo. Sus páginas recogen fragmentos, textuales o deformados, de la más variada tradición oral y escrita, procedente sobre todo de Ezequiel y de Isaías, de los Apócrifos, del cartulario colonial y de los anales de un pueblo imaginado al sur de Jalisco. Se trata en realidad de puros recuerdos de infancia, de cosas leídas, vistas y oídas, puestas unas tras otra, al azar.

La fidelidad a los giros populares y el realismo mágico de ciertos personajes son tal vez las mejores cualidades de este libro desordenado, múltiple y singular, breve y abundante.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A Journey Through Zapotlán el Grande with Its Inhabitants

Arreola, one of Mexico's finest short fiction writers, presents us with La feria (The Fair ), a phenomenal text that belongs to the genre of Pocket Apocalypses. Its pages gather fragments, either verbatim or altered, from the most varied oral and written traditions, mainly from Ezekiel and Isaiah, the Apocrypha, colonial cartularies, and the annals of an imagined town in southern Jalisco. In reality, it consists purely of childhood memories, things read, seen, and heard, placed one after another at random.

The fidelity to popular expressions and the magical realism of certain characters are perhaps the best qualities of this disordered, multifaceted, and singular book, both brief and abundant.